In Love And War
by waking epiphany
Summary: A decrepit, crumbling carnival is the setting of Sarah and Jareth's final showdown for not only her friends' freedom, but Sarah's own. Is thirteen hours enough time for Sarah to solve the riddle of Goblin King's labyrinthine heart?
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: In Love And War  
**Author**: waking_epiphany (Jamie)  
**Rating**: PG-13...for now ;-)  
**Disclaimer**: These characters do not belong to me; they belong to Jim Henson and Brian Froud.  
**Pairings**: Jareth/Sarah. Duh.  
**Timeline**: Five years since the end of the movie.  
**Summary**: Five years after Sarah Williams destroyed the Underground and its king she finds herself once again fighting for the people she loves. A decrepit, crumbling carnival is the setting of Sarah and Jareth's final showdown for not only her friends' freedom, but Sarah's own. Is thirteen hours enough time for Sarah to solve the riddle of Goblin King's labyrinthine heart?  
**Author's Note**: Finally a literary foray into my very first fandom. I get an "A+" for alliteration! This story has been a long time coming and has been inspired by a great many things (the L.J. Smith book series, "Forbidden Game", the band Nox Arcana, the "Madame Endora" tarot deck, the "Madame Fate" video game, David Bowie's considerable area, etc.) but especially by all the great Labyrinth fanfiction out there. Thank you for keeping Labyrinth in our hearts all these years...as well as in our loins. Amen. Check out the soundtrack downloads at: h t t p : / / waking - epiphany dot livejournal dot com /

* * *

Two brothers stare at each other across a chessboard.

"Stalemate," the lighter haired sibling states in an icy tone. He is tired of this game, tired of always losing. This game ends in a draw, as they always do, but if he doesn't win its always considered a failure. He rakes a hand through his wild, blond hair and breaks eye contact. His brother grins wickedly at him, his amber eyes flashing like a cat's.

"There must be a way to see who is better," the darker haired brother pouts. His blond brother rolls his different colored eyes. The black haired brother clenches his fists in momentary rage. Jareth's eyes are what give him away as an imposter, as a peon, as less than royalty.

"You have everything, Ash," Jareth points out. There is an almost effortless movement of his hand, quicker than Ash can see, and a crystal appears. Ash looks into the crystal, resentment coursing through his veins. Though he suspected the flaxen haired Jareth was only of his father's blood and not of the royal union between their father and his mother, the Queen, the golden boy has always been more skilled in magical arts and first in their father's eye. Until their father's untimely death, of course.

Ash sees his kingdom inside the sphere. As the eldest son he is High King, ruler of not only the Kingdom of the Fae, but of the smaller, less prestigious realms. He is sovereign to the almost extinct Empire of the Dwarves, the proud and nomadic Coalition of Centaurs, the overpopulated Fen of the Fairies, the fierce and territorial Brood of Dragons as well as dozens more. There is only one kingdom he does not reign over.

The Labyrinth is small, filled with smelly but loyal goblins that do his brother's bidding. It is a beautiful land, but that is not why Ash wants it. He wants it because it was his father's favorite kingdom, where he would go to escape his mother and play with his precious humans. He wants it because it was the only thing refused of him in the will when the old man died. He wants it because it is Jareth's and like all things Jareth has, Ash wants it.

"I deserve everything," Ash replied loftily, leaning back on his throne. The chess board is set outside the gates of the Labyrinth, in the orange, barren wasteland known as The In Between. It is a place of more or less neutral ground on which the brothers can sit as equals for at least a game of chess. But they will never be equals.

"No one person deserves everything," Jareth says softly, almost to himself. There was a time when he believed that. Now, there was one person who did deserve it all; everything he had to give and everything he didn't. He laid himself at her feet and she _destroyed_ him for it. It has been five years since Sarah ran his Labyrinth and he was still picking up the pieces of his broken world.

And yet...he waits. He bides his time, holding out until it feels like torture. Only then will he indulge himself, using a looking glass to catch a glimpse of her living her normal life. He used to use her friend, the spineless dwarf; pumping the fool for information when he came back through the mirror after she had summoned him. Jareth had tried sending the great beast and the fox-knight, but they were...less willing to cooperate. Alas, after a few years even Hoggle could not cross between the two worlds, for Sarah had stopped calling for him.

Sometimes Jareth would take flight in his predatory form, his white feathers catching the wind and he would somehow always find himself perched outside her window. This is the only way he can enter the human realm without being wished there. Without a summons he is forced into this constricting form, of feathers and of flight. Jareth finds that it is only when she is near that he feels truly at home. He can still watch after her, be a slave to her whims and know she is well...even if he is not the one at her side.

Jareth has used his influence in the Aboveground, the name that the Fae had given the human realm. From the safe confines of the Labyrinth, he sends her wishes to her from his bedroom window, the crystals floating and undulating in the wind until they find her through the veil between worlds. He knows others envy her inexplicable good fortune, as well as her comely looks. There is no getting by the fact that she has blossomed into a beautiful woman; maturing into her figure and face in a way that seems sweetly agonizing to Jareth. She keeps her dark hair long and silky like he likes. He does not want to dwell on how she has matured in body; that line of thinking leads him to a place in which he finds it difficult to control himself.

Ash has noticed his younger brother has gone still, his mind clearly somewhere other than The In Between. He knows this look; the faraway, wistful mask that takes over when his brother is thinking about the one that got away. Ash knows very little about the girl except that her name is Sarah and she somehow bested the man who had never been bested. He caught a glimpse of her image in a crystal Jareth had conjured once. She was pretty, in that ordinary, human way, and he simply could not see what held his brother in such fascination of her.

Ash also knows Jareth became despondent after the encounter and that the Labyrinth was almost completely destroyed. He thought he should be thankful to this human girl for so thoroughly breaking his younger brother but there is no victory for him in it. Ash was not Jareth's ultimate undoing, it was this lowly human, this _Sarah_ that crippled the golden boy.

It was in this moment that Ash knew how to rule his brother, completely and utterly.

"I know a game we could play," Ash suggested lightly, as if this held no importance at all.

"Oh, and what game would that be?" Jareth asked in a bored monotone. "I'm afraid I left Trivial Pursuit in my other pants." He longed for this sorry excuse for a reunion would end already. He was thinking of the paperwork that lay on his desk in the study. He was to hear grievances of the goblins in an hour's time and hold a full court for the evenings' dinner...none of which he wanted to do. What he wanted was to send a wish to Sarah, today of all days, and watch it come to fruition. After all, birthdays are days for wishes to come true.

"A game of cat and mouse," Ash suggested slyly.

"I think I am bored of your games," Jareth replied, standing up. "Who wants to play a game if you can never win?"

"How about a game that you _have_ to win?" Ash asked, who swung his feet up on the chess board, knocking pawns off the board and onto the sand below them. "A game with a prize so great you could not resist playing?"

"There is nothing of yours that I desire," Jareth said drolly. With this, he turned from his brother and began walking to the entrance of the Labyrinth. True, he was not High King, but he had never wanted to be. He was content with his small patch of land and everyday rituals. What he desired was not of this world and certainly nothing his brother could give him.

"There will be, if you do not play with me."

Jareth stopped. There was no mistaking the menace in his brother's words. A chill worked down Jareth's spine and stopped his heart. He felt the cold noose of his brother's intentions work their way around his throat and he knew. He didn't know how, but Ash knew about Sarah.

"What do you propose, brother?"

"The rules are simple," Ash started, removing his feet from the table and leaning forward, his hand reaching out and palming once of Jareth's white chess pieces. He played with it, his fingers caressing the smooth white marble as he spoke. "You will play a game of cat and mouse with an old adversary of yours. If she defeats you, I win. If you defeat her, you win. But you cannot make it impossible...you have to give her a chance to beat you as well as giving me the chance to help her along the way. Then we will finally know who is the best. Simple enough for even _you_ to understand, I'd think."

Jareth was frozen. He didn't know how Ash knew but he _knew_. He didn't want to even say her name, for fear it would expose him so completely.

"What would we win?" Jareth asked as neutrally as he could manage. Inside he was ice; unmoving in his determination and something akin to fear.

Ash shrugged his shoulders, his finger tracing the cold curves of the chess piece. "Sarah, of course. Should you win, she would be yours to do whatever you please. But if I win...well, then I could do whatever I wanted with her. And trust me, brother, I have a very vivid imagination."

With some effort, Ash conjured up a crystal of his own. Where Jareth's crystal's were light and air, Ash's where dark and murky, with greasy, shifting colors like an oil slick. He blew it over to his brother, where pictures of what he would do to Sarah floated over the sphere's surface. They were images of hate and control, of bondage and submission, of humiliation and slavery.

Something shifted inside Jareth. The fury was so great that he _radiated _with it. Ash dropped the chess piece he was holding in the one, infinitesimal moment that he was truly _scared_ of Jareth. The magic surrounded Jareth in an electric shield of anger and power, until Ash realized he had the upper hand.

"If you choose not to play, well then, that's just as good as a victory for me," Ash said, picking up the chess piece again and stroking it in a sensual, almost obscene way. "Because you have no control Aboveground unless you are wished there. As High King I can go into all kingdoms I choose...including the human realm. Sarah and I could become good friends. Very, _very_ good friends."

"She would never have you," Jareth said in low voice.

"She would have no choice," Ash replied with a smirk. "So, will you play for her? In our final game?"

To Ash's surprise, Jareth smiled. It was a feral, predatory thing with a life of its own. Those sharp teeth, the eye that was all pupil; he'd never seen his brother so _alive_.

"I think I'll play your little game," Jareth said icily, the cold smile still playing on his thin lips. "And I think...I think it will be a piece of cake."

Ash turned up his nose at the human turn of phrase. He was so like their father...and no doubt like the human whore his mother unquestionably was.

"Then let the games begin," Ash said delightedly, standing up. He threw the white chess piece to Jareth, who caught it deftly. With a turn of his heel he disappeared into the sand-swept breeze, leaving only a few tendrils of oily smoke and an impression of a polished boot in the sand.

"And let the best man win," Jareth said to the space where his brother used to be.

For years he had been content to hover in the shadows, watching Sarah, waiting for the night she'd wish for the Goblin King once more. He'd tried to take care of her in his own way...a strange thing to do for someone who had beaten him so completely. He thought of it as his punishment for losing: to love his enemy so completely he was a slave to her. How he could love someone and hate them in such equal measure? He wanted to be free of her influence, but in truth she was with him every moment of every damn way, just out of sight until he couldn't stand to be without her any longer.

Jareth looked down at the white chess piece. He held the white Queen in his hand. She looked so small but she was so powerful...the most powerful of them all.

He'd play Ash's game, all right. To save Sarah he'd have to destroy her...as she destroyed him.

And Jareth knew just how he'd do it.

* * *

Sarah heard the carnival before she saw it. At first she thought it had been the radio, a stray static-filled station picking up the faint strains of a melancholy calliope piece. She looked to the car's center console for the radio to change it to something else but found it was already powered off. She had forgotten that Jeremy never drove with the radio on. Puzzled, she leaned forward to the speaker but found it without life. The pipe organ sounded incredibly far away...and at the same time, Sarah heard something inexplicably like soft laughter in the car with them. She shook her head to clear her mind and peered out the window, noticing for the first time that her boyfriend had not turned off the right exit for the movie theater. She peered over at her boyfriend, who had a silly, knowing smirk on his face.

Sarah groaned. She hadn't always dreaded surprises. There was a time when she longed for something glorious, scary, and beautiful to cross her path...untilit actually did. She knew a lot of her maturity and setting aside of childhood fantasies stemmed from that night that lasted for thirteen hours. Now, looking back, she saw the Goblin King as a catalyst, a spark that set her off in the right direction. Even though, five years later, she could never be quite sure how much of her trip to the Labyrinth had been real and how much had been fantasy.

So when Jeremy missed the exit for the movie theater, and then again the next one for the turnaround, Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling a chill of doubt creep up her spine.

"Maybe you should let me drive," Sarah said smartly, squinting her eyes against the setting sun. "I know exactly where the theater is."

"Sarah, I hardly trust myself driving this car, let alone someone who has never driven a stick shift before," Jeremy said with a laugh, pushing the Porsche into high gear. "Not that I doubt your excellent driving skills, of course."

"Of course not," Sarah murmured, not really hearing him. She heard it again, the soft undercurrent of laughter, mixed with a swirling and eerie tune. But following the minor-keyed melody, as off-kilter as it may be, was like catching smoke. As soon as she found it, it became silent once more.

The Porsche was a gift to Jeremy from his parents for his 21st, and this had been the first time he'd taken her for a spin. He'd promised a low-key movie and dinner date for her 20th birthday, but Sarah was beginning to have her suspicions about that.

She peered out the car window, not recognizing the turnoff from the highway onto a bumpy, country road. Red and orange leaves swirled around the vehicle, enveloping them in an autumn shower of foliage. The sky had that strange, gray green tinge to it that indicated an October storm was coming. The trees grew closer and closer together as they traveled down the dirt road and suddenly Sarah had a flash of _something_; a memory or a fantasy, she couldn't tell, of a dense and dark forest, sparkling with shimmery fairy webs and the taste of peach on her tongue.

She closed her eyes against the image. When she decided it was safe to open them, she was bombarded with flashing lights, sirens, inexplicable honking, bright colors and that music, that _damn_ circus tune.

It was a carnival, except...it was empty. The lights were on, yes, but there was certainly no one home. The Ferris wheel made its revolution slowly, seemingly on its own volition. A lonely, decrepit roller coaster ran on rusty tracks. Tiny tents boasting games, treats, and tricks were faded and worn. It was a sad, eerie scene that stole Sarah's breath away.

"Come on!" Jeremy said excitedly. He practically jumped out of his seat and ran over to open her door. His brown eyes were alive with anticipation and he practically dragged her out of the car.

"I rented out the entire carnival for your birthday," Jeremy exclaimed, clearly pleased with himself. Sarah couldn't shake the feeling of unease as she inhaled the sickly sweet smell of cotton candy and buttery popcorn. There was something _wrong_ here, something _unworldly_ about this place. It was so empty and desolate, completely devoid of life.

"Jeremy, there's no one here," Sarah said warily, resisting slightly when he attempted to lead her toward the carnival. "I don't want to ride anything that doesn't have someone at its controls. I'd rather not spend my birthday in a roller coaster car that is careening off its rails. A trip to the hospital is not in my plans."

"That's not _exactly_ true," Jeremy said, his face lighting up like a mischievous little boy and Sarah couldn't help but smile. With his light brown hair, dark eyes, and sweet disposition, Jeremy Grey was just the kind of boy she should be with. She let him steer her toward the midway.

"A trip in the hospital _is_ in my plans?"

"No, weirdo," Jeremy said affectionately. "There are carnies here, just out of the way. The ringmaster told me they were very discrete, as to enhance the carnival experience."

"That's not exactly normal," Sarah said skeptically. Man, was this place _creepy_. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was hopelessness in the broken bulbs and decrepit booths. It felt haunted...but whether it was the carnival that was haunted or herself, she could not be sure.

"Well, there were these _other_ people who just _happened_ to show up..." Jeremy's voice trailed off and Sarah felt something latch on to her leg.

She yelped, only to look down and see her six year old brother, Toby, sitting on her foot with his little arms encircling her leg. She reached down and ruffled his wheat colored hair.

"Hi," Toby said succinctly, looking up adoringly at his older sister.

"Hey, kiddo," Sarah replied, smiling at him.

"We might have performed a _minor_ act of kidnapping," Sarah heard a familiar voice call to her. She felt something inside her relax. Jon Sherlock was her best high school friend, whose witticisms and easy laugh always made her smile. They met after Sarah finally got up the courage to try out for her high school play, instead of simply playing make believe in the park near her home. He was always cast in the lead of whatever play was being put on that year because of his ability to transform into any character as well as his beautiful, melodic singing voice. Technically, he had been her first kiss, though he says it did not count because: A) it had happened in a play and B) he never counted kisses from girls as anything of any importance. She had been a dark haired Cinderella and he had been her gay Prince Charming and she treasured their continued friendship even after they had gone off to separate colleges.

"Oh really?" Sarah asked him, accepting his hug.

"Yeah, we stole into your home and took your brother," Jon said amiably. "And maybe some fine linens and the good china."

"We?' Sarah asked, looking around.

"I've been corrupted!" Sarah turned to the wounded voice and found her college roommate, Cassandra Kane, holding her hands against her considerable bosom in mock outrage.

"I certainly wasn't the one to corrupt you," Jon said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I think the Reed University lacrosse team took care of that one."

"I resent that remark," the buxom blond retorted.

"No, you _resemble_ that remark," Jon smartly replied, slinging an arm around Sarah's college friend. "Anyway, bringing Toby was her idea, but one I quickly seconded."

"We'll try to keep the sexual innuendos to a minimum," Jeremy promised, his fingers raised in scout's honor.

"Sexual in-your-end-oh's." Toby repeated in singsong voice.

"Oooooh," Jon and Cassie said accusingly, pointing at Jeremy. Sarah laughed long and hard.

Sarah looked around at her sweet boyfriend, her funny best friend, her thoughtful roommate, and her mischievous brother and couldn't help but smile. Why was she so anxious about this whole thing? Obviously Jeremy had spent a great deal of money on this present...well, his parents' money but a lot of money nonetheless. She enveloped her boyfriend in a hug.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. "I have a feeling this is going to be an amazing birthday."

"Me too," Jeremy agreed and watched Sarah take her brother's hand. Toby led Sarah at a run, pointing out all the rides he wanted to go on and all the treats he wanted to eat. Jon went chasing after them, but Cassandra held Jeremy back by his sleeve.

"So?" She asked him, a smirk on her face. "Did you get it?"

Jeremy padded his pocket, his face breaking into a huge grin.

"Well, let me see it!" Sarah's friend exclaimed, putting out her hand. Jeremy reached into his pocket and handed Cassandra a small, black velvet box. A huge diamond ring glittered against its casing in the setting autumn sun. It was a single, princess cut diamond set in a platinum band and it was gorgeous.

"Give me a moment," Cassandra said, handing him back the box and then putting her hand over her eyes. "I've been momentarily blinded by this huge rock."

"Do you think she'll like it?" Jeremy asked, his voice tinged with anxiety.

"Like it? She'll love it," Cassandra stated confidently. "Why wouldn't she marry you? You've been going out since freshman year. Maybe this way she'll finally have sex with you."

"You know it's not about that," Jeremy said seriously, though in his own mind that was certainly a part of it.

The truth was he loved Sarah, she was his first love and he wanted her to be his last. But there was always something _different _about her, something hidden and strange that he desperately wanted for himself. He knew it was weird, but Jeremy felt Sarah was never quite with him, like he was sharing her with someone or something that made her unable to commit to him fully. He might have told others something else when they asked, but in truth...Sarah had never reciprocated when he told her he loved her. He hoped to change that today, so he could start telling her he loved her every day of the rest of their lives.

"Whatever you say, champ," Cassandra said, shrugging her shoulders. "Come on, let's catch up."

* * *

The two humans starting jogging toward their companions and the goblins began to relax slightly. One relaxed so much that he farted in the enclosed space of the roller coaster control board, making the other goblins open the door and start to pour out.

"Damnfart! You idiot! Why did you do that?" the smartest goblin there, Bor, asked angrily. The smallish goblin had been wedged closest to Damnfart, near a giant cog in the mechanics of the coaster board. As leader of this group of seven goblins, he felt he should set the rules...at least, until the Goblin King was around to tell them what to do.

"Damnfart sorry," Damnfart apologized, though he did not feel very sorry at all. He had been holding it as to not make a sound when the humans were around like the King told them and he did feel so much better now.

"Do you think we should tell the King about the big, shiny rock that boy had?" asked Kweeble, a rather large goblin with lots of tiny, sharp fangs. His ferociousness was off-set by his large, basset hound like eyes and his ungoblinlike tendency to think of others before himself.

"No," Bor decided. "King said nothing about no rock. He said to watch the portals to the Underground he conjured in these big, mechanical whooziwhatzits rides and that is exactly what I am going to make you do."

"That rock sure was pretty," Snix, a greedy, sinister looking goblin with long pointed ears, said. She rubbed her slimy hands together covetously.

"Girl not bad either," her mean spirited brother, Mudbog, said. He held his clawed hands out as far as he could in front of his chest. "Had big bazoombas. You could hide in them and the King would never find you to do chores."

The goblins laughed, or at least pretended to, except for Smeekin, who was trembling slightly with fear.

"King scary," said Smeekin, a tiny goblin no bigger than a softball. He was perched in Kweeble's shoulder and moved in the crick of his neck to be closer to him. He pulled his large, floppy ears down over his watery eyes, as if to shield himself from the Goblin King's wrath. "We should do exactly what he says."

"We will," Bor decided, puffing out his chest. "He said we couldn't let the Lady win."

"I'll put boogers in her pretty hair," Snix said delightedly, sticking a finger up her nose as if to prepare.

"I'll trip her and then bite her ankles," Mudbog said with malicious glee.

"I'll...bite her ankles and_ then_ trip her," Lemmie, the dumbest one, said. He could never come up with ideas himself and usually just copied off of someone else.

"Then Damnfart will fart on her!" Damnfart exclaimed, glad to contribute something.

"Then _I _will fart on her!" Lemmie said triumphantly, pumping his fist in the air as if he had invented something new.

"I will...say something...mean...about her...mom!" Kweeble said with some difficulty, though he doubt he really would. He didn't like when other goblins said mean things about him and found it hard to say mean things about others.

"No!" Bor said angrily, bopping each of the goblin on the nose. "We will watch each of the seven portals on each of the seven rides and makes sure the Lady goes after her captured friends."

"Even the ones from the Labyrinth?" asked Kweeble, unsure he wanted to be a part of this mission anymore. He had once skipped stones in the Bog of Eternal Stench with Ludo, a big beast with bushy orange hair, and Sir Didymus, the little fox knight with the friendly dog. He didn't really know the dwarf...Hogbutt, he thought his name was, but he was probably nice, so Kweeble didn't want to hurt him either.

"_Especially_ the ones from the Labyrinth," Bor said with emphasis. "They disobeyed our king, and they need to be punished."

"Yeah, punished," Snix agreed.

"Yeah, _punished_," Lemmie repeated, nodding his head vigorously.

"Oh...kay," Kweeble said reluctantly, not wanting to make Bor mad.

"So," Bor continued, filled with self-importance. "Snix, you will guard the Haunted Dollhouse ride and that girl with the big jahoobies."

"Yes, sir!' Snix said, saluting her superior.

"Damnfart," Bor said, pointing at the goblin. "You will guard the freak show and her man friend."

Damnfart nodded and let out gas in a sound vaguely reminiscent of a trumpet.

"Mudbog, I'll let you look after the dagger toss and the big orange beast, but _no _stabbing anyone!"

"Damn," Mudbog sighed, but nodded.

"Lemmie, you can ride the carousel with the little fox."

"Weee!" said Lemmie.

"Smeekin, you will watch over the riddle booth and the dwarf."

"Meep," Smeekin squeaked in concurrence, hiding behind the flap on Kweeble's aviator cap.

"So, what goblin has two thumbs and is the most trusted enough by the King to watch the boyfriend?" Bor asked the group. All the goblins looked down at their hands.

"Only one here, sir," said Snix, holding up her one thumb for him to see.

"Three for me," said Mudbog, counting his digits.

"Could I possibly have five?" Lemmie asked confusedly, not sure which fingers he had were thumbs.

"_This_ goblin!" Bor said triumphantly, pointing his two thumbs back at himself with pride. "So that leaves you, Kweeble, to watch the little one, the brother, in the corn maze. Think you can handle that?"

Kweeble was decidedly _not_ sure, but he didn't want anyone to be mad at him, so he nodded feebly.

"We can't let our King's ugly mean brother win," Bor said conviction. "He would take away pig fighting and our mead parties. Jareth is scary but he takes care of us."

The goblins all nodded and muttered in agreement.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Bor asked, exasperated. "Serve your king and serve him well!"

The goblins scattered, squeaking and squawking, groaning and farting, trying to dodge the few fat drops of rain that fell from the gray green sky.

* * *

In Love And War Chapter One Soundtrack

1. David Gahan, "Saw Something". Listen to when: Jareth and Ash play chess and the game is set.

Lyrics: _You and I have come so far  
We've reached beyond the farthest star  
Time and time and time again  
I want you back  
You were my__friend  
We can't pretend _

I saw something in your eyes  
I'm sure  
(Oh baby) I saw it  
Something in your eyes  
I wanted it for myself

2. Nox Arcana, "After Hours". Listen to when: Sarah hears something in the car.

Lyrics:_ Instrumental_

3. Nox Arcana, "Calliope". Listen to when: Sarah and Jeremy arrive and the carnival.

Lyrics: _Instrumental_

4. The Kills, "Sour Cherry". Listen to when: The goblins plot against Sarah.

Lyrics: _Shout when you wanna get off the ride  
'Cause you crossed my mind, you crossed my mind  
I'm a penny in a diamond mine  
We could be movers,  
We could be shakers_


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: In Love And War  
**Author**: waking_epiphany (Jamie)  
**Rating**: PG-13...for now ;-)  
**Disclaimer**: These characters do not belong to me; they belong to Jim Henson and Brian Froud.  
**Pairings**: Jareth/Sarah. Duh.  
**Timeline**: Five years since the end of the movie.  
**Summary**: Five years after Sarah Williams destroyed the Underground and its king she finds herself once again fighting for the people she loves. A decrepit, crumbling carnival is the setting of Sarah and Jareth's final showdown for not only her friends' freedom, but Sarah's own. Is thirteen hours enough time for Sarah to solve the riddle of Goblin King's labyrinthine heart?  
**Author's Note**: This chapter was originally part of chapter one but made the chapter too long to post in livejournal, so now its chapter two. But who cares! Cause we finally get out intrepid heroine to meet her Goblin King! Huzzah for UST! Check out the soundtrack downloads at: h t t p : / / waking - epiphany dot livejournal dot com /

* * *

"I want cotton candy and a corn dog and a big stuffed monkey and a ninja sword and a ride on the roller coaster and - "

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, buddy," Sarah said, laughing. Her brother was dragging her with his one hand and pulling his drooping pants up with the other. He was in such a hurry to experience it all that he was practically running. Now that she had let Toby lead her around a bit, the carnival didn't seem so creepy. Sarah didn't like the look of the clouds rolling in, that was for sure. She wasn't sure what she would tell Jeremy if it started to rain. No way she was going to let her brother ride any rides if it was pouring, no matter the repercussions it would have with Toby.

"Tell you what, Tobe," Jeremy said, rounding on Sarah's brother. "How about we hit the roller coaster before we stuff you full of fair food. That way there's less of a chance for projectile vomiting when we are riding upside down."

"I'm going to projectile vomit?" Toby asked.

Jeremy considered this. "Yeah, probably."

"Cool!' Toby exclaimed, dropping Sarah's hand like a hot poker and latching onto her boyfriend's. They walked in the direction of the roller coaster with Cassie and Jon pulling up the rear. Sarah had full intentions of climbing aboard The Phoenix, a wooden roller coaster with enough upside loops to make Toby throw up and come back wanting more, until what looked like an old gypsy caravan caught her eye.

Sarah stopped, momentarily transfixed by the flickering candlelight that seemed to beckon to her from inside the caravan. Two old fashioned oil lamps hung outside the open doorway, lighting the leaf-strewn path for her. The clapboards of the caravan were faded red but the sign was a deep, bold violet that read: Madame Endora, Seer of the Past, Present, And Future.

"Sarah? Sarah!" Sarah tore her eyes from the fortune teller's abode, focusing her eyes on her brother, who had returned to her and was pulling on her hand impatiently. "The roller coaster man is waiting to start the ride! Come on!"

Sarah turned and, sure enough, her friend were waiting for her. The carnival worker, whose face was obscured by a hooded cloak of some kind, had his hands crossed in front of his chest and was tapping his foot with annoyance.

"Um...do you mind if I sit this one out?" Sarah asked her younger brother. She didn't like lying to him but she was very intrigued by the mystique surrounding the fortune teller's place. "I'm not that big a fan of roller coasters but I promise to buy your next corndog and ride the carousel with you right after."

Toby considered this scenario for a whole half a second before yelling, "ok bye," over his shoulder and sprinting up to the carnival worker, who seemed to be laughing softly because his shoulders shook under his coat.

"Are you sure you don't want in on this?" Jeremy asked, his hand finding the crook of her elbow and pulling her close. "If you're not on that thing you're going to regret it, I can tell."

"We have all night," Sarah reminded him, dislodging his grip from her arm. "We can go on it ten times. You won't even miss me."

"That's not even remotely likely," Jeremy replied.

She smiled and gave him a kiss. She intended it to be a peck but Jeremy suddenly pulled her into an embrace and pressed his lips against hers more deeply. She was suddenly very embarrassed to be doing this not only in front of her brother and friends, but a complete stranger as well. She heard the catcalls of her two friends, followed by the muffled "ewwww" of her brother, who were already seated in the cars of the roller coaster.

The wind kicked up suddenly and Sarah felt her boyfriend move away from her. The leaves swirled around them as they had a life of their own, dancing in the undercurrent. While everything else seemed to be moving around them, only the man at the roller coaster stood completely still. She stared at him for a moment, feeling unnerved by his silence but quickly pushing the thought away.

Jeremy turned away and climbed into the seat next to Toby. Her brother waved excitedly at her and Sarah waved back. The roller coaster man leaned over the controls and pushed a few buttons and pulled a lever or two. The coaster started up and Sarah watched as the train of cars slowly approached the first incredibly steep drop.

Sarah was already walking to the fortune teller's tent when her friend's screams were drowned out by the October wind. She stepped onto the ramshackle porch and almost screamed when a black cat yowled and hissed at her from underneath the porch steps. His luminescent whiskey colored eyes glared at her and for a second, Sarah found herself wondering why this cat hated her so much.

"Come here, kitty," Sarah cooed. "That's it, pretty boy. I won't hurt you." Slowly, the cat poked its head from underneath the caravan. It regarded her curiously and deemed her acceptable enough to scratch behind his ears. After he had gotten what he crept up the stairs and into the caravan, casting one, last disparaging glance in her direction. Sarah shook her head, chuckling to herself. Attributing human traits to animals was something she would have done years ago. Of course she knew this cat was just a cat. Still, she tread carefully as she ascended the three steps to the door of the caravan.

Heady, musky incense met her nose as she knocked on the doorframe.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Sarah half hoped no one was inside. Her friends would be wondering where she was when they got off the roller coaster and, strangely, she felt a certain _finality_ would occur if she crossed the threshold of this mystical place. She couldn't place what that finality would be but it would be absolute and unconditional. And yet when she heard the sound of bangles jangling together from inside, combined with the soft, red light emanating from within, Sarah felt compelled to move forward.

"Yes," a husky voice called to her. "Come in, child."

Sarah pushed aside the beaded curtains and crossed the doorsill. She shivered, a thrill of dread thrumming up her spine as she peered through the smoky interior of the caravan. Paisley scarves lay over lamps, casting the peeled wallpaper in a splash of red. Incense burned into crumbling piles of ash on lace tablecloths. Curtains hung in soft and luxurious folds. Bottles and vials were strewn about, filled with different colors of murky liquid. Books jacketed in suede, leather and velvet littered the floor and lined the bookshelves. Figurines and idols of fantasy peered out of cupboards. Candles of blood red, sable gray and midnight black dripped and sputtered onto the tables, covering everything in the waxy tallow. In the center of the small space stood a circular table, draped in a ruby colored shift and perched on top of it, lay a large crystal ball.

Sarah felt something brush against her ankle and she yelped. The black cat from outside rubbed itself around her feet, tripping her up. She stumbled slightly, putting her hands on a nearby end table to right herself, only to come face to face with a human skull. Sarah gulped and turned to the fortune teller, who was seated at the circular table in the center. Her hair was dark and streaked with silver but her face was covered with a tasseled shawl, making it difficult to get a feel for what she looked like. The older woman beckoned Sarah with a crook of her finger and a wink of her ocher colored eyes.

"Sit, my dear," the fortune teller purred in an eastern European accent. "I am Madame Endora. How can I be of service to such a beautiful stranger?"

"I think," Sarah started, her voice catching a bit. "...I think I'd like to have my fortune read."

"Alas," the woman said, her many bracelets tinkling a strange tune. "...the future is an every-moving entity, as murky and changeable as the sea. I feel that I would be able to see your path more clearly if a tribute was given."

Madame Endora gestured slightly to a box with a slit on top labeled "donations". Sarah blushed slightly, embarrassed to have forgotten her manners. She reached into her purse and pulled out a twenty dollar bill and pushed it through the slot on the top of the box. Madame Endora clapped her hands together and rubbed them and then placed them over her eyes and breathed deeply for a moment. She seemed to be collecting herself.

"So, dear one, through what craft should you like to behold that which has yet to pass?" Madame Endora asked in a low voice. "Perhaps through extinspicy, soothsaying by the entrails of animals?"

Sarah shook her head violently.

"How about tasseography, predicting through tea leaves? Or perhaps ceromancy, divining by studying the patterns in melting or dripping wax?"

"I don't think so," Sarah said hesitantly, not wanting to be rude.

"I am gifted in many forms of clairvoyance. Palmistry is popular, as is using the spirit board or astromancy. But no..." Madame Endora paused, gazing into Sarah's eyes. Sarah felt transfixed, unable to look away, as if the oracle was truly looking inside of her for answers.

"Yes," the old woman breathed, a smile playing on her thin lips. "Oh yes, it is so obvious now. The crystal balls sings for you, pretty girl."

Sarah's heart began to race and she felt a bead of sweat rolls down her forehead. Of course, it had to be the crystal ball.

"Don't be afraid, child. Allow me to show the path of your destiny. Stare into the crystal and your past, present, and future will unfold before your eyes."

Madame Endora rubbed her hands against the cool crystal and Sarah willed herself not to turn away from the sphere.

"Your past was fraught with danger and hardship."

_"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered..."_

"In a single night you fought for something infinitely precious...fought tooth and nail. You have never gone through anything so trying."

_"I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen."_

"There have been so many twists and turns that is difficult to find your way as an adult in this mortal realm."

Sarah began to see shapes emerge in the shadowy crystal...but no, it was just the candlelight tricking her eyes, but she was beginning to get so very frightened. Pastel colors, swirling, undulating in the reflected light.

"A storm is coming, Sarah. You must be strong or be dashed upon the rocks. Your past and your future are two sides of the same coin and so is _he_."

"How did you know my name?" Sarah whispered, but the Madame continued, as if she didn't hear. The old woman was beginning to work herself up into a frenzied state, her shoulders rocking back and forth as she gazed into the crystal. Sarah couldn't look away from the crystal now, she could see herself, she was so frightened and lost. Every turn led her down the wrong path and she was alone, so very, very alone...

"He will take the child...he will take them all."

_"You asked that the child be taken. I took him."_

"He is fearsome...but you not will tremble at his feet."

_"You cowered before me...I was frightening."_

"He would do anything to rule you...and he has."

_"I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for __**you**__."_

"He's obsessed with you...it is not love _but power_ he seeks with your destruction."

_"But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl..."_

"The powers he has bestowed upon you are strong...stronger than even he realizes."

_"...and he had given her certain powers."_

"You have the gift, Sarah. The gift he gave to you and you must wield it...wield it to destroy him or he will destroy not only you...but the ones you love."

"This is insane," Sarah whispered, hyperventilating now, but she couldn't look away from the crystal, she could see herself in it. She was running, running through the rain with lightening crashing down around her. She could hear his laugh, his cruel, unforgiving laugh echoing in her mind. She saw Toby and Cassie and Jon and Jeremy, and, Oh God, Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus too. They were trapped, tied up, scared and alone. They were being guarded, she could see dark shapes surrounding them...it was goblins. They were being held captive by goblins. Sarah shook her head violently but the images were still in the crystal, a lighter relief against a murky black.

"He will have them, Sarah...and he will have _you_. You will be a slave to his every whim if you do not fight."

Sarah could scarcely heard her.. The images were moving fast now; too fast for her to fully understand what was unfolding within. The dark crystal was flashing now, showing her, then him, her, then _him_. He wasn't laughing now. He was scared and so was she but the pictures kept moving and she wouldn't take it anymore.

"No!"

The dark crystal shattered, sending shards of fortune telling device ricocheting in all directions. After she had caught her breath, Sarah looked around, not believing what she had done.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, trying to pick up some of the shards of crystal. "I didn't mean to...ouch!" One of the sharp pieces pricked her fingers and a drop of blood fell from her finger and was absorbed into the paisley scarf covering the round table. Sarah brought the bleeding digit to her mouth to try and stop the bleeding.

"It's alright, dear," Madame Endora said, waving her arms at the mess dismissively. The woman picked up the scarf Sarah had bled on and tucked it into a fold in her cloak. "That is not important. What _is_ important is you beating the Goblin King. Here." Madame Endora reached over to a shelf and produced a velvet pouch and pushed it on Sarah.

"Take this. They are tarot cards and have been imbued with ancient magic. You are the one to wield them, using the powers he bestowed upon all those years ago. They will lead you down the path of your own redemption."

"How do you..."

"Know about the Goblin King?" Madame Endora supplied mysteriously. "He is a part of the magical world, as am I. I can feel his power...for he is here."

"Here?" Sarah gasped, turning around in her chair. She couldn't see him but yes, _yes_, she could feel him. There was an electricity in the air, as if it was charged with his magic. It _felt_ like before, five years ago, when she stood in her father and Karen's bedroom and the French doors burst open to reveal the king of her dreams. She couldn't say his name, _wouldn't_ say it...it would only make it real. She reached for the cards and put them in her pocket without even realizing it.

"It's impossible," Sarah whispered, though in her heart she knew it to be true. "I didn't call him, he can't come unless I call..."

"Anything is possible," Madame Endora said cryptically. "Perhaps you were not the one to summon him to this earth. Perhaps it has been _you_ that has been wished somewhere not of this world."

Sarah let this realization wash over her. This was real. This was _happening_. She couldn't chalk this up to her imagination, she couldn't wait for everything to simply fade away with time. Unless...unless this was a trick. Unless the Goblin King was tricking her, wanting her to wish him to her somehow. Her friends would be done with the roller coaster now. She would go to them, find them, and they'd leave this god forsaken place.

"This is ridiculous," Sarah said, with more confidence than she felt. She pushed herself from the table, hearing the chair legs scrap against some of the dark, broken crystal that still scattered the floor. "I don't know who you are or what you think you are doing, but I don't believe in that stuff anymore. If...if Jon or Jeremy put you up to this, I'll certainly have a word with them. I'm done with this. I'm _done_."

She stood from her chair and turned her back on the shrouded woman. She made her way to the beaded curtains, tripping slightly on the black, yellowed eyed cat that crossed in front of her.

"The storm is coming, Sarah," Madame Endora called to her. "And you can do nothing to stop it. Beware. Beware..."

Sarah, as defiantly as she could, threw the beaded curtain aside and began to run.

Inside the caravan, the air around the black cat began to shimmer and smoke. After a few moments, a man stood where the feline had been. He appeared drained, his face pale and wan from the exertion of magic. He sat in the chair that Sarah had vacated, breathing heavily. Though he was out of breath and naked, he seemed pleased with himself.

"That was beautifully done, Mother," Ash said to Endora. The woman seated at the table untied the scarf from around her face to reveal beautiful, regal features. Mother and son both shared dark, flowing hair, a defined patrician nose and strange whiskey colored eyes. The queen handed her son some clothes, which he donned with some difficulty.

"I thought so as well," Endora said, twisting her mouth into a cruel grin. "She will be near impossible to stop her with those cards. They hold powerful enchantments...I daresay she might even be more powerful than you right now, my son."

"I just need her to be able to defeat Jareth," Ash said, trying to catch his breath. "I need her as docile as a lamb when he loses and she is mine."

"I doubt you will find her docile," Endora told her only son. "She is spirited...no doubt one of the reasons Jareth finds her so appealing, even if she is _human_." The Queen said the word with distaste, as if she were talking an embarrassing bodily function instead of a person.

"Then it will be all the more fun when I break her," Ash said with relish.

"The cards should help matters," Endora said. "The magic is strong and will help her overcome whatever obstacles Jareth has in store for her; however, every time she uses one it drains her a bit of her strength. She'll make it through the seven challenges, but unless Jareth helps her along the way, she will be very weak at the end. She might even die, if we're lucky."

"If we're lucky she'll live," Ash replied, tapping his fingers together in pleasure.

"Son, you know as well as anyone I find Jareth's presumption and arrogance repulsive," Endora started cautiously. "But isn't there a more practical way of beating him down? Couldn't you just overthrow him for leadership of the Labyrinth? Your father's will never accounted for a hostile takeover. This game the two of you are playing...have you ever thought you might lost more than you are set to gain?"

"You best hold your tongue, crone, lest you want it lopped off due to treasonous words against your High King," Ash said, pointing an accusing finger at this mother.

"Of course...my Lord," Endora said deferentially. "You know best." She knew her son did _not_ know best, especially when dealing with offspring of her husband's dalliances. Jareth was cunning and not without skill in magic. The fair haired boy had been her husband's unapologetic favorite.

Endora still remembered that day all those hundreds of years ago that Avery walked into her parlor and handed her a screaming bundle swaddled in rags. She recalled looking down at the changeling, his eyes so different and strange, and wondering how long it would take to smother him. As High Queen, her husband was expected, almost encouraged to have affairs with other Fae women, since Fae fertility was so low. Even if the Queen could not carry a child, a boy with even half the King's blood could rule the land. But this boy was different...gifted in magic, certainly, but there was something distinctly _off_ about him. Endora suspected he was somehow half Fae and half human...a hybrid considered freakish and wrong. She had never seen one before but she knew that was this abomination was when she first laid eyes on it. She raised Jareth as her own because she had to, not because she wanted to...something she never let Avery forget. Now that the king was gone, Ash could rid the imposter from Fae lands...at vulgar cost.

"I will use her to break him...then I will use her for myself," Ash whispered, forgetting his mother was even there. His mind was far away. The game was about to begin and he wouldn't miss a minute of it.

* * *

The carnival was shrouded in darkness. The sun had gone down...when had that happened? Sarah descended the stairs of the caravan at a run, trying to pick out the roller coaster out of the blackness. There were no bright, blinking lights anymore, no calliope music, no laughter. A clap of thunder startled her and she looked up into the coming darkness. The sky had that black green look of a storm approaching.

"Toby!" Sarah screamed into the wind. "Jeremy! Jon! Cassie!" She felt like the weather was conspiring against her, swallowing her calls before her companions had a chance to hear her. But then again, in the deepest part of herself that she hardly listened to anymore, she knew her friends weren't here. In the dying, forgotten part of Sarah that was ruled by fantasy, that was both terrified and fascinated the King of Goblins, she knew she would have to fight for them.

And fight for them she would.

_There_. She saw a light in the distance. She passed by the roller coaster...had it moved? It was dark and vacant, though Sarah thought she saw a flicker of movement along the floorboards. Was that a snicker? She searched the coaster cars anyway, feeling more defeated resignation than disappointment. She knew they wouldn't be there. She knew where she had to go.

Sarah followed the light, a bright glow that surrounded the big top tent in the center of the carnival. She started running again, feeling slow, fat raindrops pelting her face and hair. She heard the laughter now, some of it high pitched and whooping, some nervous and tittering, and one that was deep, arrogant and mocking. She ignored it and continued to run. She ran for minutes, hell, it could have been hours for the dread Sarah felt building up inside her.

When she finally reached the tent it was lit up like a Christmas tree, almost blinding in its brightness compared to the bleak surroundings. It was a huge monstrosity of a thing, like a giant fortress of canvas and light. But more than that she could feel a change, a shift in the air around her when she approached. It even _smelled_ different, of course it smelled like popcorn and cotton candy but there was something else...a dampness, an ancient, green smell of earth and age. It was a scent familiar to her and Sarah inhaled deeply, savoring it. She felt she could almost grasp what it reminded her of but the memory slipped away almost willfully.

For a few moments Sarah stood and stared at the flap in the canvas where she knew she would enter. Her heart was beating wildly and she felt like she couldn't quite catch her breath. Her feet wanted to move, they _wanted_ to carry her inside, but her heart throbbed with dread. She knew what she would find inside but could she face it? Sarah felt dread, fear, but strangely what she felt most keenly was _alive_.

With very precise determination, Sarah peeled back the flap and stepped inside the big top tent. She stepped just inside the tent but no further before she felt her foot catch on something and she fell to her hands and knees. She felt something pierce through her knee...a shard of dark glass. Glass like the black crystal in Madame Endora's caravan. Blood oozed out of a shallow cut and started to stain the fabric of her denim but she hardly felt it. She had to look up, she knew she did, and she felt her eyes being drawn to the light in the center of the ring.

She was being drawn to him, like she always was...like she was always meant to be.

He stood with his back to her, resplendent in ringmaster's garb. Tall, knee length boots wound their way up lean, muscular calves. Black pants that looked tight enough to be painted on coated his strapping thighs. He wore a dangerously seductive open-necked white shirt under a tight red coat with tails adorned with many shiny, gold buttons. His wild, blond hair was capped in a top hat cocked at a rakish angle. And, like all ringmasters, he carried a whip; a cruel, tasking weapon that Sarah did not desire to see close up.

She couldn't believe how fast her heart was beating. She felt like he could hear it even though he was feet away. She knew she had to approach him; she couldn't bear to let him see her on her knees like this. She would not appear subservient to him in any way. Gingerly, she wiped her bloody hand on her jeans and stood. She walked painfully, but steadily, until she stood mere feet from him. She saw him start to turn; Sarah braced herself but no matter what she remembered, she wasn't prepared for him.

He was beautiful. Not _good-looking_, or _attractive_, or even _hot_. He was simply beautiful, in the way that sunsets are beautiful; naturally and breathtakingly so. His proud and willful mouth was open slightly, as if taken aback to see her. His face changed before she had even been sure she had seen his surprise and his mouth twisted into a cruel, predatory grin. She felt his eyes on her, taking in her dirty and blood stained clothes and her disheveled appearance. She knew she shouldn't care but Sarah felt exposed and bare to him under the scrutiny of those blue, mismatched eyes. The silence stretched between them, the two adversaries, and after years of thinking of what she would say to the Goblin King should he ever cross her path again, Sarah was speechless.

"Hello Sarah," the Goblin King said softly, his voice as sultry and melodic as song.

"Hello...Jareth."

She had never called him by his name, his _true_ name, before. She rolled it around on her tongue, feeling it, finding it hard to say. Jareth closed the distance between then, putting only a few inches of space between their bodies. Yet in those few inches, years of fear and control, misunderstanding and magnetism, yawned open and treacherous between them. Sarah knew she'd be lying if she said she wasn't scared of him in that moment.

Yet she didn't budge. She wouldn't back away. So they stood, staring, at an impasse, waiting for the other to move.

* * *

In Love And War Chapter Two Soundtrack

1. Band of Skulls, "Friends". Listen to when: Sarah meets up with her friends and when she sees her friends off at the roller coaster.

Lyrics: _All my life I've been wastin', wastin'  
Wastin' all my money, all my time  
All the time that I'm waitin', waitin'  
Waitin for the moment you are mine  
The song about yeah I'm thinkin', thinkin'  
Thinkin all the things that I've done wrong  
All the time yeah I was forgettin'  
You were mine all along_

2. Nox Arcana, "Madame Endora", and Nox Arcana, "Shadows Fall". Listen to when: Sarah listens to Madame Endora's prophecy.

Lyrics:_ Instrumental_

3. La Ley, "Everytime". Listen to when: Sarah and Jareth reunite.

Lyrics: _Everytime is time to go  
Everywhile is for us to hold,  
along the way your destruction is my life  
With little time, I will fly between your smile  
cause everytime is time to go,  
and everywhile is for us to hold  
in many ways every dream is like a long road  
it's my desire to protect your lips with mine,  
with mine. . . .  
From the stars and nowhere  
and then all I'm feeling out to go  
from the stars_


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: In Love And War  
**Author**: waking_epiphany (Jamie)  
**Rating**: PG-13...for now ;-)  
**Disclaimer**: These characters do not belong to me; they belong to Jim Henson and Brian Froud.  
**Pairings**: Jareth/Sarah. Duh.  
**Timeline**: Five years since the end of the movie.  
**Summary**: Five years after Sarah Williams destroyed the Underground and its king she finds herself once again fighting for the people she loves. A decrepit, crumbling carnival is the setting of Sarah and Jareth's final showdown for not only her friends' freedom, but Sarah's own. Is thirteen hours enough time for Sarah to solve the riddle of Goblin King's labyrinthine heart?  
**Author's Note**: Finally, Sarah faces off with His Majesty! Will there be fighting or face sucking? You'll have to read to find out! As always, the soundtrack is at the bottom and please download the songs at my livejournal h t t p : / / waking - epiphany dot livejournal dot com / . And, as always, thank you so much for all the comments and reviews. Your support is what keeps me going!

* * *

She was so close he could kiss her. It wasn't so strange: the desire to protect her lips with his. All Jareth had to do was cross a few inches of time and space; it wouldn't be that hard. Hadn't he moved the stars for her? Reordered time? A few inches between her lips and his was not far but it could have been miles or years between them for all the good it would do to give in now. He can still hear his name on her mouth and it echoes in his mind like the lyrics of a long-forgotten song. How long had he been feeling the ache of missing her? Since five years ago when she left? Since five minutes ago when saw her kiss someone other than him? Since forever.

"I did not wish you here," Sarah says, rather rudely, though her voice betrays her when it cracks.

Jareth cannot help it. He chuckles, low and cold.

"Perhaps it was _I_ that wished for _you_," Jareth replied simply enough, and he is glad he has had hundreds of years to practice the art of deception, or she would see right through him.

"Did you?"

"No," he answered truthfully, tracing the long lines of the whip he held in his hands. "This reunion was not of my doing, but aren't you glad to see me?"

"Absolutely not," Sarah says stubbornly, crossing her hands in front of her chest. It _wasn't_ good to see him; it was _agonizing._ Emotions that had lain dormant since she had beaten him surged up and threatened to choke her and, to her supreme dismay and annoyance, she still didn't know what feelings they were. Fear, yes. Animosity, check. Attraction...reluctantly affirmative. And yet there was some other feeling churning inside her, something great and infinite, something like...destiny.

"Oh, Sarah," he says and his voice is like a caress. "How I've missed your tenacity. Tell me, how have you been since you destroyed my world?"

Sarah was suddenly struck with intense guilt. "My friends...they never said anything about it to me. I just assumed that I did no...permanent damage."

"No permanent damage? _No permanent damage_?" Jareth's voice slices through her like a knife. "There is nothing left in the Labyrinth that doesn't bare the stain of your influence. Though, I suppose that is the way war is waged. The conqueror leaves her mark on the land she so thoughtlessly dominated."

"I never meant..." Sarah sputters and, in her haste, she moves closer to him and he feels the world shift. "...to hurt you."

"Don't," Jareth says softly, though his voice in tinged with steel. "Regret does not become you, Sarah. We do not stand in front of each other again to rehash years old hate. We are here because I had been bidden to offer you...a challenge."

He drops the whip onto the ground and, with little effort it seemed, produced a crystal between his hands. It looks fragile, yet, Sarah knew, it held infinite possibilities.

"I once offered you anything you could ever want," Jareth said, the crystal floating and moving between his fingertips. Sarah saw herself in the sphere: an actress showered in flower petals receiving an encore on a massive stage; Sarah as the center of attention surrounded by many adoring friends; Sarah, dressed in a flowing gown of pale gold, the tiny strap of the dress being delicately and deliciously pushed down her shoulder by the Goblin King. Embarrassed and blushing, Sarah looked to see if Jareth had seen that last image in the crystal but found it both thrilling and intimidating to see him looking at nothing but her.

"I now offer you...a choice."

Sarah looks into the sphere again and sees each of her friends in turn; all seven looking scared and alone.

"If you yield to me, you will want for nothing," Jareth says, the crystal spinning faster now. "Surrender yourself to me and your friends will go free. Under my control, I would give you anything you desired: money...fame...pleasure."

"Under your control," Sarah repeated softly. Her voice turned cold. Adolescent intimidation had quickly turned to righteous indignation. "That's all you ever want, that's all you ever wanted. Power, over me and over everyone else. You don't offer me a gift. You offer me slavery in exchange for my friend's freedom. That's no choice at all."

"It is the best choice," Jareth says with more emotion than Sarah expects of him. "If you weren't so selfish you'd see it is the _only _choice, as far as I'm concerned."

"What concerns you is none of _my_ concern," Sarah says resolutely. "What concerns me is my friends and my brother. Toby shouldn't be a part of this, I already won his freedom, and my own, for that matter."

"Toby is a part of this, whether you like it or not," Jareth states with conviction. "As are you."

"What is my other option?" Sarah asks bluntly, trying to get to the point. "You said you were offering me a choice. What is the other one?"

Jareth sighed. He moved the crystal to his one hand and produced another. He kept the both spinning in his nimble fingers, weaving them back and forth, making it difficult for Sarah to differentiate between the two spheres.

"Your other option is to fight for them. Your friends are here...more or less. Each of the them are contained within different attractions in this carnival. However, once you cross the threshold of each ride, a portal is opened...a portal to different places in the Labyrinth. Such as now."

"I knew," Sarah said, surprising her adversary. "When I came into the tent...I could _smell_ the Labyrinth."

"And yet you still came," Jareth said, his hands never stopping. Sarah began to get dizzy from watching the spheres move rise and fall in his supple and strong hands. "So clever, so brave, such a heroine."

"I have no reason to be scared of the Labyrinth," Sarah said with more bravado than she truly felt. "And I have no reason to be scared of you. I've beaten you once...it shouldn't be difficult to do it again."

Jareth stopped the crystals and held them out to Sarah. Without touching her, he placed them in her hands. They felt cool and solid in her palms.

"You say you offered me a choice," Sarah said, looking at the two crystals, and then looking at Jareth. "But if you knew me at all, you would knew that there is no other choice for me."

Keeping her green eyes locked on his blue, she let one crystal fall. She let go of her deepest fantasies and wishes, feeling them slip from her fingers. Sarah felt it shatter at her feet; Jareth felt it shatter in his heart.

"I choose to fight."

"I knew you would, lovely girl," Jareth said and, for a moment, Sarah spied something like to sadness in his beautiful, regal features.

"How long do I have?" Sarah asked, anxious to begin. She kept thinking of her friends, her brother, and her boyfriend so alone in such a strange place. That, and, she felt she needed to separate herself physically from the Goblin King. He was so hot and cold; charming and scheming one moment and heartrending and contemplative the next. She was becoming increasingly more confused about her feelings the longer she was in his presence and confusion was not something she wanted as a companion when she ran his Labyrinth again.

With a wave of his hand, a familiar looking clock appeared. It was well crafted and handsome, all shiny wood and polished brass. It's only real flaw was the numbers on its face. Sarah groaned and Jareth grinned his sharp smile.

"You will have thirteen hours in which to save your friends. Thirteen hours and then you will have to name me as your victor."

"I never thought you to be a sucker for nostalgia, King," Sarah said, watching the clock as it faded into nothingness.

"Oh, Sarah, you'd do me a great pleasure in calling me Jareth," Jareth replied. "I am fond of a great, many things. Nostalgia for our previous encounter, with all its perfect imperfections, being one of them."

_That_ surprised Sarah. She thought he hated her. He _should_ hate her, for all that she had done to him. _Wait_. She shook her head. She hadn't done anything to him that he didn't deserve. She had only defended herself and her brother against this King, this force of nature, that had been foisted upon her against her will. She was too confused for her own good. She needed to leave. She needed to save her friends. She needed to get away from _him_ and his exhilarating influence.

"I will defeat you," Sarah said with as much determination as she muster. She stuck her chin out defiantly, never wavering in her eye contract with him. "You will be no match against a will as great as mine."

"It will be so sweet watching you fall," Jareth answered. Sarah turned and began to limp away, so angry she barely felt the pain in her cut knee, when she heard him say her name.

"Sarah, wait."

Sarah stopped, having only walked a few, painful feet from him, not entirely sure she could face him again.

"Jareth, please, I need to go..."

"I know," Jareth supplied, closing the distance between them again. "But, I can't have you at a disadvantage so early in our game. To use a favorite phrase of yours, 'it's not fair'".

Sarah watched as he sank slowly to his knees, looking like a submissive suppliant to a disheveled queen. She watched as he slowly removed his gloves, finger by finger. He threw them in the dirt, dust rising up where they fell. He reached up to his hat and tossed it aside. He then reached out to touch her pant leg and she recoiled from his touch on instinct.

"Please," Sarah said in a whisper. "Don't."

"This will be the only gift I will give to you," Jareth said, his voice sounding strained. "Accept it and I will let you leave."

After a moment of hesitation, Sarah nodded. She held her breath, for fear of hyperventilating. She looked down at his blond head, the feathery tendrils so close she could reach down and wind her hand through them. She let out her breath in a hiss when Jareth began rolling up her pant leg.

Her skin was white and smooth, like flawless ivory colored marble. He revealed her leg, inch by inch, as slowly as he could manage, savoring the sight of his slowly exposing her. After a few moments of the agonizingly slow process, he reached her knee. The cut was fairly deep and it still bled sluggishly; the dark beads of crimson leaving trails down an otherwise flawless canvas.

Sarah watched as Jareth produced another crystal and, instead of forming a perfect sphere, she watch as he somehow absorbed it back into his hand, causing a soft, radiant light to emanate from his fingers and palm. Sarah was scared, scared of what he would do to her, scared of what he was _doing_ to her without even trying.

Jareth had waited long enough. He touched her, his cool fingertips caressing the tender flesh of her knee. Sarah gasped as he traced the cut gingerly, tenderly, almost lovingly. He steadied her shaky leg by encircling his other hand around her calf while he placed the hand that had absorbed the crystal against her wound.

Sarah felt hot all over and her knee began to itch and tingle.

"Please," Sarah said, not sure why she was begging. "Don't...don't hurt me."

"I'm not hurting you," Jareth said, letting the magic seep into her skin. "Am I?"

"...No," Sarah answered with as much bravado as she could muster, though her voice betrayed her by trembling slightly.

"Then why fight it?" Jareth asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She tried to look anywhere but at him but, in the end, it was useless. It was fascinating and frightening, his being so close, close enough to kiss or kill.

"It stings," Sarah confessed after a few seconds or days, she couldn't really be sure.

"Oh?" Was all the Goblin King said in reply. Without looking up to her for permission he leaned his head toward her knee and, very softly, blew his breath against the wound.

Sarah let a noise somewhere between a sigh and a moan escape from her lips. She put a knuckle in her mouth and bit down on it hard to stopper any addition expletives or noises from running out while Jareth continued whatever the hell he was doing to her. After what seemed like hours, but could have only been a moment or two, Jareth stopped blowing on the sensitive skin of her knee. The skin there was whole again. Where there had been a deep gash, there now was a thin, shiny pink scar.

"That was...," Sarah trailed off, a bit breathlessly. She couldn't continue her thought; he would know what he was doing to her. "You didn't have to do that."

She watched as he rolled her pant leg back down and looked up at her from down on one knee. For a few seconds neither of them spoke and, for a terrifying moment, Sarah closed her eyes. She was waiting for something, waiting for him to _do _something. He was so close that she could reach down and stroke his cheek, perhaps letting the finger travel across his face to the trace delicious curves of his lips with the pad of her thumb. She imagined just that and let out the breath she was holding and opened her eyes, only to find him standing there, appraising her, and she knew he was her adversary once more.

"Usually a person will say 'thank you' when a service has been provided," Jareth said coolly.

The anger that had lain dormant while Jareth had been so close, _too_ close, flared up again, hot and unbridled.

"I never asked for your help," Sarah said, just as icily as the Goblin King. "Whatever help you offered you did to your own detriment. All you've done is made your downfall all that more swift."

She took a deep breath, not quite sure what would happen when she did what she was about to do.

_"You have no power over me." _

A beat passed, and then another, and then...and then he laughed. It was a cruel, icy thing; like icicles falling from roof eaves and smashing on concrete.

"Oh, Sarah," Jareth said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Just when I marveling at how grown up you've gotten, you do something so childish and underhanded. I never thought you to be someone who plays dirty."

"I'll do anything it takes to win," Sarah said as cruelly as he. "I'm not a girl anymore, Goblin King, and you don't scare me anymore."

"And why should you?" Jareth asked. "I haven't done anything to frighten you yet. I have been kind..._too_ kind to you and trust that I will not make that mistake again."

"Kind?" Sarah sputtered, looking around in the darkness for someone to share this joke with. "_Kind?!_ You've kidnapped my friends, my brother, my boyfriend, and for what? A stupid game? There's nothing kind in that."

"I am _nothing_ if not kind," Jareth said quietly, but Sarah could feel fury building in his dulcet tones. "What if I open up that wound on your knee again? What if it didn't stop bleeding? What if, with a snap of my fingers, your friends just go to sleep and never wake up? You'd lose this game before it even starts. But that would be unsportsmanlike, would it not? It is obvious that I am being more than fair and considerate. However, if I were you, I would not stand around and test the limits of my benevolence."

Sarah stood for a moment, dumbfounded, before narrowing her eyes at him.

"Is that a threat?"

"It is a promise, little girl," Jareth answered and suddenly the gloves he had discarded were back in his hands and he was shrugging them on his long fingered hands. The hat appeared, too, and the image of the ringmaster was complete; ever in control and so majestic. He gestured behind him, where the clock floated into view again, the minutes ticking away. "Time is short and I only have so much patience and restraint."

"Fine," Sarah said. She tried to sound as intimidating as he did. "But know this, King: I beat you once and I will do it again."

"Oh, Sarah," Jareth said with a sigh. "I know you will try."

With as much huff as she could manage, Sarah walked away from her King, her dark hair swinging behind her like a storm cloud. Without a look back at him she threw open the flap of the big top tent and exiting, leaving Jareth alone with his thoughts...or so he thought.

A slow clap resounded under the big top and, before he even saw him, Jareth knew who was lurking in the shadows.

"Oh, brother," Ash called out of the darkness. "That was...poetry in motion. The repartee between the two of you...epic."

Jareth turned his attention to the bleachers, where his dark haired sibling sat, naked, with his feet propped up on the seat in front of him.

"Please, Ash," Jareth said, summoning up a crystal and blowing it his brother's way. "I know you are not up to conjuring quite so soon after transfiguring from your feline form, so please, let me cover up your shortcomings."

"Such vulgar jokes are below you," Ash said, accepting the crystal with little chagrin. A simple outfit materialized around him and he looked down on it with distaste. "You couldn't have made this a bit more fashionable? I am a king, you know."

"I'm acutely aware of your standing," Jareth said, glaring at his brother. He watched as Ash stood and descended the bleachers and came to stand on the sand circle under the big top. "Forgive me if I'm not feeling generous."

"I would have to disagree," Ash said, appraising his brother. "You remember that if she loses, you win, correct? All she has to do is fail to save one of her friends and she is yours. There is a chance she could beat you; she's done it before, and she'd be all mine. I would say you were being foolishly generous."

"I'm aware of the conditions," Jareth answered, anxious to take leave of his brother. Sarah was out there and he needed to see...how she was doing. How much force he would need to exert over her. Yes, that was why he needed to leave.

"Then why heal her?" Ash was truly perplexed; there was no logic behind it at all.

"Because...," Jareth trailed off, not sure how much to reveal. He didn't need anything more held against him in this dangerous game. "It wouldn't be fair."

"Fair? Fair?!" Ash exploded with laughter. "Oh, Jareth, she must be something for you to stoop to such a pathetic level. All you're doing is making it all the more simple to drop her into my waiting hands and, I must say, I'm beginning to see why she is so intriguing."

Jareth, as calmly as he could muster, approached his brother and put both hands on Ash's shoulder. He gripped the fabric there, bringing his brother closer to him.

"Listen to me, and listen to me well, for I will only say this once," Jareth said softly to his brother. "Whatever happens at the end of these thirteen hours, know there is no future where you will have control over her."

"So, you're the only one allowed to have control over dear Sarah?" Ash practically purred at Jareth's anger.

Jareth considered this. Sarah had made it abundantly clear that he had no power over her but he liked to think he had a certain _pull_ over her, and that he influenced in small and subtle ways. He never wanted to change her; he wanted her just as she was. He just didn't want anyone else to have their way with her, especially Ash.

"The measure of a man is what he does with power," Jareth said with emphasis. "I once thought that having power was everything. In time you might realize that sometimes yielding one's control is just as exhilarating as having it."

"Only a fool would yield his power to another," Ash spat, feeling almost sorry for Jareth for being so stupid.

"Then a fool am I," Jareth replied, pushing his brother away. "But a fool can beat a king any day. And a fool can beat a human, no matter how much help you give her. Excuse me, brother. I have a game to play. And you know me. I l_ove_ games."

"Good luck then, Jareth," Ash called to the retreating back of his sibling. "You certainly will need it."

* * *

Sarah lurched out of the tent, breathing hard and trying not to fall in the dirt again. She righted herself and, thinking quickly, spun around to face the tent, sure that Jareth would come swooping out, maybe to send The Cleaners after her or, at the very least, throw some glitter menacingly in her direction. She felt it, the exact moment she exited the portal from the Labyrinth. She looked back at the tent and it was only a tent. But more than that she felt the absence of magic acutely. Now that she had been exposed to it again she wondered how she hadn't noticed its nonexistence every day since she left.

He did not follow her. Feeling something between relief and dread in his lack of presence, she took a look around the dilapidated carnival, bathed in the fading twilight of the coming storm. Each ride and attraction looked as deserted as the last but, Sarah knew better than anyone, that appearances were deceiving, especially when The Goblin King was concerned.

She started walking. She didn't know where she was going, but she did know she was walking without pain. She put a hand to her knee, where blood had stained her jeans when she fell. She felt whole and complete, hell, she felt _great_, which was the most aggravating thing of it. She hated the feeling of _owing_ Jareth anything...even if it did mean leveling the playing field.

Sarah knew she should seek out Toby first but, with everything empty and desolate, she had no idea where to start this insane misadventure. He craned her neck and willed her ears to hear something, _anything_ that would give away one of her friend's positions. After a moment of desperate listening, she jammed her hands into her pockets, frustrated. She felt a rectangular object in her pocket and she pulled it out.

It was the tarot deck that Madame Endora had pushed on her. Sarah looked around, trying to see where the caravan had been, but she now only saw dust and scraggly grass where the fortune teller's abode had once sat. Endora had said something about....ancient magic.

Feeling for once like she had the upper hand, Sarah opened the velvety pouch and pulled out the deck of cards. They felt papery and old, not waxy and covered in laminate like she expected. They were larger than playing cards and their backs were adorned with a golden, spidery design, a crest of some sort. Sarah knew by now that words held great power, and so she chose hers carefully.

"Help me find my way. Show me my path."

She shuffled the cards in her hand, feeling them move and shift, until she found one that felt right. She removed it from the deck. For a second, she felt out of breath, as if she had run very fast in a short amount of time. The moment passed quickly and she felt like herself again. She looked down at the card in her hand and read it aloud to herself.

"The Foul-Weather Friend," Sarah intoned to herself. "The Foul-Weather Friend is a true friend indeed, who seeks you out when you need help the most, unlike the Fair-Weather friend, who is likely to abandon you when the times are tough. There are two faces to this person. He is an actor whose true feelings are masked in order to gain acceptance and avoid punishment. At times the Foul-Weather Friend's sense of humor and tough demeanor make him the center of attention. However, the Foul-Weather Friend may also be concealing a sadness derived from loneliness or a broken heart."

"Hoggle," Sarah breathed, the answer coming to her clear and fast. As soon as she breathed his name, Sarah saw a light shoot up in the distance. He _had_ to be first; she knew that now. He'd gripe and complain but he'd help her, no matter what the cost.

"I'm coming, Hoggle!" Sarah yelled toward the light and started to run. She zigzagged across the dark carnival; sidestepping old popcorn containers and traipsing on top of old ticket stubs as she made her way to only spec of light in the whole damn place.

She made it, out of breath but in one whole piece, to a huge, dead-looking tree on the far end of the fairgrounds. It was directly surrounded by a low, crumbling stone wall. The whole thing was lit up by strings tiny white lights. The only other thing of note was the archway. Sarah found it strange that the archway proclaiming the attraction as "The Riddle Tree" was attached to nothing. It was simply an archway placed in the middle of nothing, not connected to any fence or enclosure at all.

Sarah walked around the archway and nothing changed. There was still a tree, illuminated by a soft, twinkling glow. She was still alone, but she knew this is where she needed to be. Maybe...maybe she was just taking for granted that the archway was just an archway to nothing. What had Jareth said?

_Portals_.

Sarah took a deep breath and put one foot inside the archway. She peered through the gateway and gasped at what lay beyond.

Up in the skeleton of the aging beech tree, a white barn owl takes flight.

* * *

In Love And War Chapter Three Soundtrack

1. City and the Colour, "Day Old Hate". Listen to when: Sarah and Jareth discuss terms and years old hate.

Lyrics: _So let's face it, this was never what you wanted  
but I know its fun to pretend  
Now blank stares and empty threats  
Are all I have, they're all I have. _

_So drown me, and if you can  
Or we could just have conversation.  
And I fall, I fall, I falter  
But I'll find you, before I drift away _

_Now you still speak of day old hate  
Though your whole world has gone up into flames  
And isn't it great to find that you're really worth nothing  
And how safe it is to feel safe_

2. Dayna Kurtz, "Somebody Leave The Light On". Listen to when: Jareth and Ash discuss Sarah.

Lyrics: _He was blessed - the best of us__  
__And now the boy is gone_  
_He was so beautiful and stupid_  
_He'd go swimming with his boots on_

_You spend too much time with strangers__  
__You spend too much time alone_  
_You need someone to leave a light on_  
_When you're headed home_

_I know love is everywhere__  
__Whatever ground you stand on _  
_I'll take what sight is offered me_  
_Whatever lights you turn on _

3. The Ark, "Calleth You, Cometh I". Listen to when: Sarah realizes who she has to save first.

Lyrics: _I know all that so well, but I also do know this:  
Calleth you, cometh I  
And that's just how it is, and how it's always been  
It's where my reason stops and something else comes in  
I know it doesn't make sense, but still_


	4. Chapter 4

Title: In Love And War  
**Author**: waking_epiphany (Jamie)  
**Rating**: PG-13...for now ;-)  
**Disclaimer**: These characters do not belong to me; they belong to Jim Henson and Brian Froud.  
**Pairings**: Jareth/Sarah. Duh.  
**Timeline**: Five years since the end of the movie.  
**Summary**: Five years after Sarah Williams destroyed the Underground and its king she finds herself once again fighting for the people she loves. A decrepit, crumbling carnival is the setting of Sarah and Jareth's final showdown for not only her friends' freedom, but Sarah's own. Is thirteen hours enough time for Sarah to solve the riddle of Goblin King's labyrinthine heart?  
**Author's Note**: Sarah faces her first carnival challenge to save a friend, meets the High King, and Hoggle makes a surprising decision. Comments are like crack, please indulge me.

* * *

Smeekin was afraid of oubliettes. He was afraid of most things, really, but especially oubliettes. He hated the feeling of the walls closing in, of the dark, and of being forgotten. But, more than anything, even more than oubliettes, he fears the Goblin King's brother and what he would do if he took over Smeekin's home.

This oubliette wasn't so bad. It was perfectly round but very wide across and though the walls went up very high, but there was clear, blue sky above. Good thing he didn't fall in from the very top. Smeekin looked over at the entrance to the oubliette...he supposed it wasn't really an oubliette if there was an entrance; it was just a large, round room with a big tree in the middle with really tall walls. The entrance was a large doorway and outside the doorway was the dark human world. In the labyrinth it was light-time but in the Aboveground it was dark-time.

The dwarf was shouting things at him again and Smeekin cowered against the huge, hulking tree in the center of the open-topped oubliette. The wood sprites were pestering the foul-mouthed traitor and Smeekin liked it that way. The leaves were very green against the papery white bark and surrounded by dozens of the blight, blinking sprites, it looked very pretty. The tree was encircled by a low, stone wall that Smeekin was currently perched on, waiting for The Lady to come. The dwarf had a rope tied around both arms, both legs and his waist and, strung up in the tree.

He was glad the dwarf was up there. He was wrinkly and rude and spat at him. What if Smeekin got sick because this dirty, gross dwarf spat on him? None of the other goblins would come and visit him in his tiny hut. He was afraid of being alone. The worm might visit...he was polite. Kweeble would, because Kweeble was nice. Smeekin wished he was in his tiny hole right now, with his teakettle and his pet snail and his knitted hats.

He was afraid what the Goblin King's brother would do if he took over the Kingdom, he was afraid of what the Goblin King himself would do if he failed his mission, he was afraid that The Lady would pick him up by his ears and twirl him above her head and...

There she was. She was peeking into the archway, her eyes round with wonder. She kept looking into the oubliette and then out of it, marveling at how it was almost dark in the human world, but light in the Labyrinth.

The dwarf hadn't noticed her yet. He was still yelling at the tiny, softball sized goblin. Smeekin pulled his long ears and stuffed them into his ear canal. He tried hiding against the bark of the tree but the dwarf looked down on him, trying desperately to knock the sprites away, spitting insults left and right as he did.

"...and then I'll take your mother out for a nice seafood dinner and I won't even call on her the next day and...Sarah? Sarah!"

Sarah turned to the voice. At first she didn't see anything but then, yes, there was a rustling in the branches of the spectacularly huge tree.

"Hoggle?"

"Who else would it be? The king of the bog of eternal stench?"

"Technically, I think you're both of those things," Sarah called, laughing. She was so relieved he was alright; better than alright, really, if he was still capable of hurling insults while stuck up in an ancient tree. It was amazing; the tree had looked dead and withered, though still very tall, when she was outside the archway but now that she had walked through, it was strong and vital and full of shiny green leaves. It was lit up with tiny pinpricks of light and Sarah knew at once it wasn't a string of Christmas lights.

She turned around to look where she had come and there was suddenly a great, tall circular wall surrounding the hole in which she had just come through. And, strangely of all, it was _daytime_ once she walked through. Even if Jareth hadn't told her that the attractions contained portals to the Labyrinth, she would have known she was not in a place of her own world.

Sarah jogged up to the base of the tree and climbed on the low stone wall at the tree's base. She peered up through the myriad of branches and, sure enough, saw the short, stubby legs of her dear friend, Hoggle, surrounded by tiny sprites. They were smaller than fairies, almost like a swarm of large bugs, and they glowed with a light all their own. Unfortunately, they also minuscule, needle sharp daggers and were poking her dwarf with them.

"If we're going to be technical," Hoggle said, struggling against his bonds. "I am the _prince_ of the bog of eternal stench, not the king. Now, get me down, so I can ram my fist into that little goblin's pea brain and then I'll get my sprite toxin sprayer and then we'll see who's so stinking brave..."

"Who are you talking to..." Sarah began to say, until she felt a tug at the hem of her jeans. She looked down and saw the tiniest goblin she had ever seen peering up at her with large, bug eyes.

"Oh," Sarah said, surprised. "Hello there, little guy."

"Murple," Smeekin eloquently replied into the fabric of her pants. He was so frightened; but, looking up at The Lady, he found her to be pretty and was speaking to him in such a soft and kind way. He worked up his courage and tugged on her pants again, more insistently this time, and Sarah stooped down so she could hear him better.

"My laugh to smell you some piddles," the tiny goblin muttered.

"What?!"

"I have to tell you some riddles," the tiny goblin squeaked a bit more loudly. "King told me five riddles, one for each rope holding the smelly dwarf."

Smeekin was so proud of himself. That was probably the most words he had ever strung together without stopping in the middle to cower or pee his pants. But then he thought of the nasty High King and started shivering again.

Sarah looked at the little goblin for a moment. She had played softball for a whole three weeks junior year of high school and thought she probably could hurl this little imp far enough that she could climb up the tree and untie Hoggle. But she couldn't have the Goblin King swooping in and claiming her a cheat, either.

Sighing, she put her hand out, palm upwards, for the tiny goblin to perch on. She swatted a few sprites out of her face so he could get a good look at her. Looking uncertain for a moment, the goblin then stepped gingerly onto Sarah's hand. She brought the creature up closer to her face and the thing grabbed on to her thumb for balance.

"Ok, little one, lay it on me."

"Ok," Smeekin replied, tapping a stubby finger against his head to try and remember the riddles. "Ok, Lady, what is it that you can keep after giving it to someone else?"

Sarah considered this. She liked riddles. When others wouldn't wrap their minds around the puzzling phrases, somehow her mind took them apart and deciphered them. Now, it couldn't be something physical, unless the other person gave it back to you. No, it had to be an idea, or a concept, or a word...

"Oh!" Sarah said after a moment, scaring the poor goblin. He dived flat on the palm of her hand, his little legs dangling off the side, his hands over his considerably long ears.

"Oh, I'm sorry, little guy, I just know the answer. Is the thing you can keep after giving it to someone else...your word?"

"Uh..." Smeekin consulted a list the size of a postage stamp and nodded.

"This isn't so hard," Sarah told him a bit smugly. "What about Hoggle? A rope for a riddle, right?"

"Yes, Lady," Smeekin said and snapped his fingers. The rope around Hoggle's middle disappeared. She heard a collective groan from the sprites as Hoggle's middle sagged outward from being freed. The little buggers renewed their tormenting of Hoggle and Sarah felt like she should speed this adventure up.

"Ok, next riddle," Sarah demanded. She was confident now and she imagined what Jareth would say when she breezed past this first task with ease. He would so angry. She imagined him, brooding and smoldering on his glorious throne and she smirked.

"Hokay," Smeekin said, consulting his list. He read very slowly. "There are four brothers in this world that were all born together. The first runs and never wearies. The second eats and is never full. The third drinks and is always thirsty. The fourth sings a song that is never good. Who are they?"

"Huh," Sarah says, to the goblin. "Would I know these brothers personally?"

"Mmm," Smeekin says, not sure how to answer. He felt like he was being tricked, but the Goblin King said nothing about being honest. "Umm...they're not real brothers, like my brother Yak, but I knows I see them brothers every day."

"Four things you see every day," Sarah said, more to herself. She looked around, trying to draw inspiration from her surroundings. "I see myself every day, but that's not it. I see...trees every day. I see people, too, I suppose...the ground, then, if we're going to be picky."

Smeekin started jumping up and down despite himself.

"The ground? Is that it?"

Smeekin waggled his hand, which Sarah took to mean "sort of".

"So, the ground is part of it...is it one of the brothers?"

Smeekin gave an exaggerated shrug, which Sarah took to mean as yes.

"Ok, which brother would the ground be..." Sarah looked at the grass at her feet, which looked a little yellowed and brittle at the ends. "It wouldn't be the one that runs....not the one that eats. Would it be...the brother that drinks and is always thirsty?"

Smeekin nodded emphatically.

"So, if the earth is one of the brothers...," Sarah held up her other hand and started ticking them off. "The one that runs and is never weary is water. The one that always eats and is never full has to be fire. We know that the third brother is the earth, because it always drinks and is never thirsty. That leaves air, or really, the wind, to sing that song that is never good. Is that right?"

"You'se so smart, Lady," Smeekin says, blushing against his green cheeks. He snapped his fingers again and Hoggle was left dangling from his two hands and one foot. A few of the sprites teamed up to remove one of Hoggle's shoes and began to tickle his feet. The dwarf was not amused.

"Do you think we could hurry this up a little?" Hoggle shouted down at Sarah. "I ain't got all day!" Sarah glared at him from down on the ground and then addressed the goblin again.

"Please, sir," Sarah asked the little goblin, and his whole body shakes at being called "sir". "I'd like another riddle, now."

"Uh..." Smeekin consulted his list. "What belongs to you but others use it more than you do?"

Sarah thought. She peered up into the foliage at Hoggle's feet for inspiration, but none came. She considered stealing the goblin's miniscule note and simply reading the answers. But, that would hardly be fair.

"Can I maybe get a little hint?" Sarah asked the little goblin, who shook his head emphatically.

"Sarah!" Hoggle started shouting from his perch up in the tree. "Sarah! Hey, Sarah!"

"Geez, Hoggle, I'm trying my best here," Sarah called in an exasperated tone. Leaves started to shower down on her, as Hoggle struggled against his bonds.

"Oy, Sarah! Saaaaarah," Hoggle called to her and found herself getting annoyed.

"_What?!_"

"That's it! Sarah," Hoggle called down in his peevish voice. "Your name! It's yours but everyone else uses it more than you do!"

"Oh," Sarah said slowly, then her face lit up. "Oh! My name! Is it my name?"

Smeekin glared up at the dwarf, who was blowing raspberries at Smeekin. Smeekin snapped his fingers and Hoggle was hanging from one arm and one leg.

"Hmfph," the goblin grumbled in a defeated tone of voice, but began consulting his list again. "Ok, Lady, here goes. Who are the two brothers who live on opposite sides of the road yet never see each other?"

"Is it the same brothers as before?" Sarah asked, deciding that keeping the goblin talking was the best course of action.

"Nopers," Smeekin said, not quite sure what The Lady was doing. He felt distinctly nervous when he felt he had to answer her.

"Ok, different brothers...do these brother's look alike?"

"Mine do," Smeekin answered hesitantly. "And so do yours. But the Goblin King's don't."

The little goblin must have realized he said something revealing, because he shivered in fear and stuffed one of long ears into his mouth.

That made Sarah pause. She only had one brother, not two and as far as she knew, Jareth didn't have any siblings. But, according to the goblin, her brothers looked the same, whereas Jareth's did not. What was so different about Jareth that was the same to her? In her mind, Sarah answered _everything_ but that wasn't the answer. She envisioned the Goblin King, in all his fearsome splendor, first thinking of his long fingered hands, and his lean, muscular legs, his achingly tight pants...never mind. _Boyfriend in trouble_, Sarah chided herself. Shifting her thoughts around in her mind, Sarah moved on to picture Jareth's strange and beautiful face. She traced his thin, sensual lips with her mind, let her eyes wander away from his pointy, canine teeth and settled on his extraordinary, mismatched eyes.

_His eyes._

"Eyes," Sarah said softly. "The two brothers are eyes and the nose is the road they on the opposite sides of!"

She ended her sentence in a fist pump, which promptly led the tiny goblin she was palming to hold on for dear life.

"Oh, geez, sorry little one, I was just excited. Is eyes right? It's right, isn't it?"

"Oh yes, Lady, tis right," Smeekin said shakily, holding onto Sarah's thumb for dear life. He snapped his fingers and suddenly Hoggle was hanging from only his foot. The sprites let out a battle cry and waged war on the much larger creature.

"Yah!" Hoggle yelled, clearly upset by the turn of events. "Get me down! I can't take much more of this!"

"I'm trying, Hoggle! I'm almost there!" Sarah lifted her hand right in front of her face and stared down the petite goblin, who cowered. "Last one, little guy. Better make it a good one."

"Um," Smeekin stuttered. "Um...I...ok. When one does not know what it is, then it is something; but when one knows what it is, then it is nothing?"

That left Sarah stumped. She looked around her, taking in the large, glittering stone walls and the giant tree, desperate for inspiration to strike her.

"What are you waiting fer, Sarah?" Hoggle yelled down at her, dangling from his ankle, swatting at the sprites. "Answer the blasted thing!"

Sarah ignored him. "Can I get a clue?" She asked the goblin, who shook his head.

"No more hints," Smeekin swore solemnly. "So afraid of the dark haired king...I've helped too much already."

That threw Sarah back.

"Don't you mean the light haired king? Jareth?"

"No, no, no," Smeekin shook his head. "Goblin King nice compared to the High King."

"Nice?" Sarah asked, incredulity evident in her voice. "_Nice? _And who is this High King?"

Smeekin slapped a hand over his mouth in horror. He was shaking, so much so he slipped off Sarah's hand.

"Gotcha!" Sarah cried as she caught Smeekin in mid air. The poor goblin was sobbing.

"There, there, now," Sarah said, patting the poor thing on the back with her finger. "It can't be that bad. You've done such a great job with the riddles."

"Really?" Smeekin asked in a watery voice, taking his hand away from his eyes.

"Really," Sarah assured him. "But you must understand that I have to try to win."

Smeekin nodded and plopped his dirty thumb into his mouth and began to suck on it. Sarah figured he'd be at that awhile, so she tried to think. When one does not know what it is, then it is something; but when one knows what it is, then it is nothing? How can something be nothing once you know what it is? And if you _don't_ know it, that's when it's something? It didn't make any sense. Then, Sarah supposed, it wasn't supposed to make sense, it was a riddle.

_A riddle_.

Sarah smiled at the tiny goblin. "I just want to say again, you did very well, little one."

"T'anks, Lady," Smeekin said, removing his thumb from his mouth.

"But the answer, ironically enough, is...a riddle."

Little Smeekin started wailing.

"Shh, shh," Sarah hushed, patting him gently on the back. "It's ok, you tried your best. Now, if you wouldn't mind letting my friend down?"

Sarah watched as Smeekin hopped off of her hand and onto the low stone wall surrounding the tree. He looked up at the dwarf, let out a large, embarrassing sob, and snapped his fingers.

"Yaaarg!" Hoggle yelled as he started falling from branch to branch. Sarah, trying to be helpful, held her arms out to catch him, only to watch him land, face first, onto the ground right next to her.

"Bye, Lady," Smeekin said in a fearful voice and, with another snap of his fingers, disappeared into the oblivion.

"Ooof," Hoggle muttered into the ground and Sarah quickly grabbed him by the back of his thick, leather vest and yanked him to his feet. In response, Hoggle kicked her squarely in the shin.

"Ow!" Sarah yelled, grabbing her shin. "What was that for? I got you out of the tree, didn't I?"

"That was for making Jareth mad and him putting me up in the tree in the first place," Hoggle said, and promptly kicked her in the other shin. Sarah lost her balance and fell smack down on her ass, clutching both shins.

"And what the hell was _that _one for?"

"I thought we was..._friends_." Hoggle said the word reverently, like it was sacred.

"Of course we're friends," Sarah said as patiently as she could with two throbbing shinbones.

"Then why did you stop calling for me?" Hoggle said, turning his back on Sarah and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Calling for you?...Oh Hoggle," Sarah said, the truth dawning on her. "It's not that we weren't friends anymore, it's just that...I grew up. I had to make friends in my own world, too. Can't you see that?"

"All I see is a girl who forgets about her friends as soon as she's finished getting what she wants from them," Hoggle said in a huff. "You're a silly, stupid bint who gets her friends in trouble for all the help they've given her."

"Hoggle, you can't mean that."

"I said it and I mean it."

Sarah felt a tear slip down her cheek as she stared at the dwarf's back. She knew, deep down, that he was right.

"Hoggle," Sarah said, her voice cracked and pleading. "I need you."

"You only need me when you want something," Hoggle said stubbornly.

"I don't think I can do this without you," Sarah said, reaching down for his shoulder and feeling positively awful as he jerked away from her. "It's not just Toby, this time. It's Ludo and Didymus, too. And there are my human friends....Hoggle, they did nothing to deserve this. I need you to help me."

"The only thing they did to deserve being stolen away by the Goblin King is _being friends with you_."

Sarah felt a pain like an ice shard in her chest. She felt another tear fall from her eye and she didn't bother to wipe it away.

"Hoggle," Sarah said, dropping to her knees. "Please. Help me."

She thought he would turn around at that. He'd see her on her knees and he'd help. He was her foul-weather friend. He'd be there for her in the darkest times, the hardest times.

He didn't even turn around.

"Help yourself, Sarah."

He walked away from her, and, without hesitation, walked out of the oubliette and into her world.

"Hoggle? Hoggle!" Sarah yelled, calling after him, but he did not turn and he did come back. She was shocked; she was sure he would help her. He was her foul-weather friend, after all. But maybe...maybe she had pushed him to his limit. She could deny it to herself as much as she pleased but Sarah knew she had manipulated everyone in the Labyrinth to help her. She was ahead in the game, one friend down, six to go, but knowing she was all alone, Sarah allowed herself a few moments of feeling sorry for herself.

"The ground is not a place for a pretty woman to be sitting," Sarah heard a voice call out to her. Looking up through her tears, Sarah saw a dark haired man leaning against the entrance to the oubliette. He was tall, dressed in old fashioned but simple clothes of a soft gray shirt and dark breeches. His dark, almost black hair, the same shade as hers, was held back in a low ponytail. However, it was his eyes that were the most striking. They were yellow. Not just yellow but golden and deep, like the what you'd imagine the center of the sun being like if you could look at it long enough. Sarah sat for a moment, dumbfounded at this strange man appearing before her so suddenly.

"Excuse me if I sound rude," Sarah said from her knees. "But who are you?"

"Oh, you're not being rude, only curious," the man said amiably enough. "Which is understandable when one finds oneself in such a strange situation and place."

"I've been in stranger," Sarah said cautiously. She began to climb to her feet when the man rushed over and held out his hand.

"Oh, please," the man said, practically tripping over himself to stand by her. "Let me help you."

Sarah looked at the man suspiciously, but held out her hand for him. She took her one hand in both of his and helped her to her feet. Sarah began to pull away but he held her hand fast and pulled her toward him. She began to jerk her hand back but he held on to it, too long. Sarah watched as he brought her hands to his lips and pressed a kiss against the skin of her hand. He reminded Sarah of a sleazy car salesman.

The man gave Sarah what he thought was a winning smile but Sarah really saw as smarmy. She didn't want to be rude, so she smiled warily back. She was beginning to be suspicious of this polite stranger.

"I'm Ash," the man said, bowing slightly at the waist. "And you must be Sarah. I must say, you are not the little girl my brother made you out to be."

"Your brother...," Sarah said, finally pulling her hand from his. She stepped away from Ash, looking over his clothes, his demeanor, his eyes. "Oh...no."

"Oh, yes," Ash said delightedly. "Though it pains me to tell you that Jareth is of my own flesh and blood. But no fear, sweet lady, for I am here to help you."

"Help me?" Sarah asked skeptically. Sarah continued to back away from Ash, until she found herself sitting against the low, stone wall encircling the tree. She had so many questions, so many doubts and suspicions, but somehow she _knew_ that what this man said was true. And as much as she knew this man was Jareth's brother, she knew there was something striking but rotten about him, like molding lace.

"How can I trust you?"

"Well," Ash said, circling Sarah like a mangy, jungle cat. "You might know the old saying, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?' Well, Sarah dear, I think you and I are going to be very good friends indeed."

"So, you're saying that two are enemies?"

"Ha!" Ash laughed, and the sound was like a cold, dead thing. "If we're going to be nice about it, I'd say we're not on the best of terms. But the naked truth is...I want him crushed."

"Crushed?" Sarah asked, goose bumps dotting her skin. "That's an awfully strong word to use for family."

"Don't you want to see him crushed?" Ash sounded confused. "Don't you want to be rid of him?"

Sarah became quiet. She didn't know a life that didn't have the Goblin King lurking in the shadows, filling up her nights and daydreams with fantasy and song. She pushed these memories and flights of fancy away most of the time, but sometimes...sometimes she let herself be taken away. Sarah told herself it was harmless, indulging herself in the "what if's". What is life without a little bit of fantasy? As long as the majority of the time she was rooted in the here and now of things, _real_ things and people. She wanted to _defeat_ Jareth, but, did she really want him _defeated_?

"I want to win," Sarah said slowly. "I want my friends back and I want _everyone_, including myself and Jareth, to come out this unscathed."

"I promise you that if you stick with me," Ash said, stopping to stand in front of her. "I will help you defeat Jareth. I've already given you a gift."

"Have you?" Sarah asked, not sure she could believe anything this unctuous man said.

"Oh yes," Ash said airily. "Or, my mother did. Those cards you hold...they can do more than guide you."

"Your mother....Madame Endora, she's your mother? Is she Jareth's mother?"

"She is _my_ mother," Ash answered. "But whether she is Jareth's remains to be seen. And what you hold is no mere trifle. Those cards hold great power...you could be nearly unstoppable with them. There are cards in there to unlock doors, make escape routes, even induce pain and suffering. But, like all gifts, it comes with a price."

"And what price might that be?" Sarah asked, knowing where this was going. "Something small like, oh, I don't know, my sense of self, or my freedom, or hell, my first born child? Why don't we just throw my virginity in there and call it a day?"

"Oh, it varies," Ash said, his voice light and nonchalant. He began circling her again. "You might not experience any loss. After all, Jareth did imbue you with certain....abilities."

"Oh yeah, some ability," Sarah said sarcastically. "The ability to charm mythical creatures to my cause. Which, as you can see, does not work as of late." She waved an arm around at the now empty courtyard to indicate how alone she was.

"I think that is just part of your natural charisma," Ash said, chuckling.

"Listen..." Sarah said, her voice trailing off.

"Ash," Ash supplied generously, sweeping into a low bow.

"Ash," Sarah repeated, moving away from him and toward the entrance. "I...appreciate your offer and please, don't take offense when I tell that I cannot accept your help."

"Because of Jareth?" Ash seemed hurt, or as hurt as he could pretend to be.

"In part," Sarah said, edging her way to the entrance of the oubliette. "But mostly because there's just something about that I simply do not trust."

"Aw," Ash said holding his arms out wide. "You can trust me! I'm the High King! Everyone loves me!"

"Not the goblins," Sarah said seriously. "And certainly not me."

"Well then, Sarah," Ash said, his voice turning cold. "We are at an impasse. Don't say I didn't try to help you win."

"I won't," Sarah replied, equally as cold, wanting to be rid of this oily sycophant.

"Just know that you have the power to call on me, should you need me," Ash said, watching Sarah's form fill the entranceway. She was outlined in coal-black night of the Aboveground, as pretty as a picture. "Look to your cards...you'll know who to call."

"Ghostbusters?" Sarah asked innocently.

"Who?"

"Ug, you fairy tale kings and your lack of pop culture references," Sarah lamented to herself.

"At any rate," Ash said, moving on. "Keep me in mind next time you're in a quandary. I'm a pretty helpful guy."

"Sure, Ash," Sarah said, moving through the archway. "Thanks for the offer but I'm pretty good at this Labyrinth thing by now. Goodbye, High King."

Ash watched her go, so lithe and pretty on her feet.

"See you later," the High King promised to the night. And with no one around to hear him, he began to laugh.

* * *

Jareth crushed the crystal in his hand. It turned to glitter and grit, shifting and falling from his gloved hand like grains of sand. He watched it form a tiny pile in the dirt and get swept away in the wind. He leaned against the Ferris Wheel, a great mechanical eyesore of steel and light. He knew Ash would try and meddle; he made it plain to Jareth that he would do just that. However, watching the two of them interacting from his perch in the old birch tree, knowing what Ash would do to her should Jareth fail...

Jareth sensed movement near. The footfalls were closely spaced; his underling was running.

"No need to run," Jareth called to him. "It will only delay our happy little reunion."

"Damn!"

"Come, come now," Jareth calls, not as loud this time. He senses him approaching. "This is no way for a vassal to treat his monarch. I bogged dwarves for less than that, Headcheese."

"It's _Hoggle_," Hoggle said exasperatedly, approaching his sovereign. "And you know it." He was frightened, as he usually was when he faced Jareth, but he tried to put up a brave, if perturbed, face. But in addition to that, he was in the human world and he had no idea where he was going. He shouldn't have left Sarah, especially when Jareth was so near and so very, very powerful.

"I know it's Hoggle," Jareth answered. "But it is _such_ a terrible name."

"I just want to get back to me garden," Hoggle said, thinking that if he appeared busy at the King's benefit, Jareth would wave his hands and he'd zap him back to the Labyrinth. "I have loads of fairy fumigating to do."

"I'm sure you do," Jareth said. "But I think we have more pressing matters to discuss." Hoggle noticed his king was fingering a long whip, pulling the long, leather weapon back and forth through his fingers. Hoggle stood very still, not wanting to feel the sting of his master's displeasure.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I know we did not have much time to discuss this matter when I was stringing you up in that tree."

Hoggle muttered something about bird nests in his pants, sprite stabbings, and tree bark up his ass, but Jareth ignored it.

"We need to discuss...Sarah."

Hoggle hated the way his king said her name. There was a particular emphasis on the first syllable, so it sounded like a lover's whisper instead of a name.

"What about her?"

"Are you planning on continuing this pathetic little rebellion against your _friend_?" Jareth said the word mockingly, holding the title over Hoggle's head like an axe waiting to be brought down on his neck. He was belittling the betrayal that Hoggle had harbored at Sarah for years now, using it as a weapon in his own endgame.

"I dunno," Hoggle answered hesitantly. He kept his eyes on the whip Jareth held ever so lightly.

"Well, from what I know about you," Jareth tells the dwarf. "I know you are weak. I doubt your little revolt against your only comrade will last very long."

Hoggle shrugged, already feeling tendrils of doubt creeping into his mind. He recalls how her face crumpled right before he turned his back on her. And now, standing in front of Jareth, he knows who he'd rather serve.

"What I need from you now, Hoggle, is your trust."

Hoggle didn't even try to hide his disbelief. He might have even snorted, which he knew was incredibly disrespectful, and he braced himself for punishment. When he wasn't beaten or bogged after a few moments time, he felt it safe to open his eyes.

"Trust?"

"Yes, Hogbutt, trust. It is a word, with a correlated concept to go along with it," Jareth said impatiently. He felt several cold drops of rain pelt his face and hair as he stood with his back against the Ferris Wheel. The sun was fully set and the moon was pregnant and bright. Time was steadily slipping away from him.

"How can I trust you after all that...stuff?" Hoggle was honestly mystified. He usually obeyed Jareth because he was _afraid _of him, certainly not because he _trusted_ him.

"Well, Higgle, I'm glad you asked that because my argument is threefold," Jareth said, dropping his whip to the ground and holding up his hand for Hoggle to see. He held up his three fingers and began to tick down his reasons.

"One," Jareth said, folding one finger into his palm. "I will make your life miserable if you are not with me on this plan of mine. I will force you to de-wing pixies by hand, clean the goblin outhouses with your tongue, and dip you, head first, into the bog of eternal stench every hour on the hour. In fact, that's how we'll tell time now in the Labyrinth from now on, by the hourly Hoggle boggings. Can you understand that?"

Hoggle nodded, though those things sounded like threats as opposed to reasons why he should trust his king.

"Two," Jareth continued, ticking down his fingers. "I have never lied to you."

Hoggle gave him a skeptical look, and Jareth willed himself not to send the dwarf into the Emerald Forest to be dismembered by Fireys.

"I may punt chickens for my amusement and use contrary goblins as cannonballs, but I do not lie. Which is why I'm forced to say that leather vest makes you look fat." Hoggle looked extremely affronted at the insult to his manner of dress. Jareth continued unperturbed.

"Everything I have ever promised, I have fulfilled. Someone wishes a child away to me, I keep my promise and I take them. Someone gets kissed by a beautiful stranger, I keep my promise and I crown them prince of the royal court of the bog. Someone's entire race is slaughtered and rendered nearly extinct, I keep my promise in letting them call my Labyrinth their home, as long as they keep their promise in serving me."

Hoggle had the decency to look abashed and more than a little frightened.

"Which leads me to my third and final reason," Jareth's voice lost its haughty tone and Hoggle sensed that all joking was unequivocally over.

"I am not a kind man, but I am a fair ruler," Jareth said in a low voice. He leaned in close to Hoggle's face and the dwarf was acutely reminded of a voracious bird of prey.

"When my brother, the High King, killed the almost all the dwarves, I took the refugees into my realm. You were young at the time of the exodus, but not too young as to not remember the atrocities he committed against your people. The stories of the great dwarf slaughter is told to goblin children around campfire as scary stories, you know. 'Listen to your elders, work hard, or the High King will cut you open from end to end. Gather round and hear tell of the murder of a million and one dwarves and the king that killed them for the precious gems and jewels they hid so covetously in their mountains.'"

Hoggle was shaking now, not for fear of Jareth but for fear of _him_, the slayer of families and worlds. The Dark Man, the High King, the Royal Executioner, and the Ash Lord; all names for what Hoggle recognized as the devil himself.

"You have to trust me because if you don't, Sarah will be his."

Hoggle, who had been avoiding Jareth's cold, uneven gaze finally caught the Goblin King's eye.

"No!" Hoggle said, firm and resolute. "Not Sarah."

"Yes, Sarah," Jareth said, deadly serious. Hoggle had never seen Jareth so grave_. "_Your precious Sarah will be at the mercy of my brother should she win our little game."

"You can't let him have her," Hoggle said fiercely. Jareth was slightly taken aback to see the dwarf close to tears. Hoggle, in a desperate plea, kneeled before his sovereign. "He's a monster. You need to save her. It would be better if she was killed than what he would do to her."

"Don't you think I know that?" Jareth's voice was strained but serious.

Hoggle looked up at Jareth from his knees, not knowing if he wanted to know the answer of his next question.

"What happens if _you_ win?"

It was a simple enough question, one Jareth felt he should be able to answer easily. But there was nothing simple or easy about Sarah. There was nowhere in this world or the next that Jareth could hide Sarah from his brother should he somehow win this little game of theirs. There would be no freedom for her, no place she could go without his protection and she would never forgive him. There was no answer that would leave anyone happy or at peace.

"There is no winner," Jareth said, turning from the dwarf.

"What do you want me to do?" Hoggle sounded terrified, but resolute.

Jareth knew Sarah's capacity for compassion was great; pathetic, insipid creatures were drawn to her goodness like bees to honey. But Jareth was not so removed to not see that there would be no redemption for Hoggle in Sarah's eyes should he betray her again. He recognized that the dwarf was making the ultimate sacrifice and felt he deserved perfect honesty.

"You either help me bring Sarah down or stay the hell out of my way," Jareth warned him. "Because I will crush anything in that crosses my path. The choice is yours, Hoggle."

Hoggle peered up at the Goblin King. Hoggle remembered when he first came to the Labyrinth, days after he experienced the fresh horror of his family's slaughter. He had kneeled before Jareth as a expatriate and swore fealty to him, only to defy him years later, all for a human girl. His king looked older now, worn down, but not beaten. There was an icy fury driving his ruler and as his subject, he would follow him. He would follow Jareth to save the girl that drove Hoggle to defy Jareth in the first damn place and if he died in the process, then at least he was dying for something important.

"I'll help you," Hoggle swore, after only a moment's hesitation. "For Sarah."

"For Sarah," Jareth intoned, his voice switching from solemn to mocking in the hairsbreadth of a second. "And here's to this unholy alliance not crushing under the weight of its own irony."

Hoggle harrumphed and climbed to his feet. "I ain't sure what you said but I know enough that I should be insulted."

"Are you? Insulted?"

"Eh," Hoggle said indifferently, starting to walk away. He only made it a few steps before he stopped, turned, and fixed Jareth with a serious look.

"You'll have to kill 'em," Hoggle said. "The High King. In the end, you'll have to kill 'em."

Jareth's eyes flashed dangerously. Perhaps it was the reflection of the bright, multi-colored bulbs against the rusted steel of the massive, steel skeleton of the Ferris Wheel or maybe it was Jareth's dual-nature shining through. Hoggle's monarch looked more like the visceral, bird of prey in this moment than he did when fully transformed.

"I will not let my brother haunt her footsteps," Jareth swore, more to himself than the dwarf standing in front of him. "If I can rid him of his protection, rid him of his pride, rid him of his power...I will rip him apart."

With that promise, Hoggle watched as Jareth began to change. His body began shrinking on itself, his face compacting and his features becoming smaller, sharper. The magnificent barn owl took flight, his white feathers gleaming against the oncoming darkness.

* * *

In Love And War Chapter Four Soundtrack

1. Nox Arcana, "Fairy Tale". Listen to when: Sarah, Hoggle, and the riddle tree.

Lyrics: _Instrumental_

2. Band of Horses, "No One's Gonna Love You". Listen to when: Hoggle leaves.

Lyrics: _It's looking like a limb torn off  
Or altogether just taken apart  
We're reeling through an endless fall  
We are the ever-living ghost of what once was_

But no one is ever gonna love you more than I do  
No one's gonna love you more than I do

3. Dios Malos, "You Got Me All Wrong". Listen to when: Sarah and Ash come to terms.

Lyrics:_ You got me all wrong  
You wandered away  
Without which I am nothing  
Much more than I can say_

You got me all wrong

4. Bob Mould, "Circles". Listen to when: Jareth and Hoggle come to an understanding.

Lyrics_: Star light, so stunning and brilliant  
The circle keeps spinning around me  
My love, my god, what have I done to you  
I've lost my one in a million_

I go insane a thousand times  
My circle of friends is shrinking down  
I get so far down I can only hope  
I jump through the way, it gets lonely now


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: ** In Love And War  
**Author**: waking_epiphany (Jamie)  
**Rating**: PG-13...for now ;-)  
**Disclaimer**: These characters do not belong to me; they belong to Jim Henson and Brian Froud.  
**Pairings**: Jareth/Sarah. Duh.  
**Timeline**: Five years since the end of the movie.  
**Summary**: Five years after Sarah Williams destroyed the Underground and its king she finds herself once again fighting for the people she loves. A decrepit, crumbling carnival is the setting of Sarah and Jareth's final showdown for not only her friends' freedom, but Sarah's own. Is thirteen hours enough time for Sarah to solve the riddle of Goblin King's labyrinthine heart?  
**Author's Note**: Just a little warning for the inclusion of blood and general weirdness in this chapter. This part of the story takes a darker turn. But that's not to say that there isn't some awesome Sarah/Jareth moments! We see Sarah giving the King a taste of his own medicine, so to speak. Please check out this chapter's additions to the soundtrack. Please comment, I am desperate for validation and compliments ;-)

* * *

Cassandra Kane struggled against her bonds.

"You know that hairstyle is way out of fashion," she told Jareth nastily.

She looked around the sickly sweet cell for some sort of an escape route, but this big-haired, albeit it hot, psycho had appeared out of thin air. There was no flirting her way out of this predicament. Not for lack of trying, however. This guy was completely unresponsive and bored at her advances. When she figured that her looks would play no part in her escape, she quickly moved past formalities and began to struggle against her bonds and let her anger shine through.

"Oh, yes, being the slave to trends that I am, I am _terribly_ concerned about that," Jareth said, securing the woman's restraints with magic.

"What is this place?" Cassie asked, peering through bars at the strange, dark prison.

The dark enclosure was draped in stained pink silk and lifeless roses. It smelled of sweets and dead things. It reminded Cassie of an old toy house, abandoned and rotten after years of neglect from a now grown up girl. Sometimes Cassie would catch a shadow moving across a wall but it was the sounds that mostly scared her. Sometimes it was high-pitched screams. Sometimes it was low, sensual moans. Other times it was soft weeping alternating with hysterical laughter. The sounds rose and rose into a such a maddening cacophony that Cassie wanted to scream out herself, just to hear something familiar and earthly.

"This is The Dollhouse," Jareth answered, standing before the woman. He was awe-inspiring, really, even to a girl who had been with so many men in her short life. It was the confidence, Cassie thought. It was his otherworldliness, the tilt of his head and the mysterious curve of his lips that held your attention. The crotch-hugging pants didn't hurt, either. They were simply criminal.

"It is a place of great magic all its own," Jareth explains, circling the girl in the chair. "It has the power to punish and transform those inside." She is comfortable enough, her hands and feet bound with reinforced scarves. But she still struggles. He knows she wouldn't struggle if she knew what was out in The Dollhouse, waiting to get in her gilded cage.

"It is a prison for women of my realm who have taken another person's life," Jareth says, leaning against the bars. "Murder is not tolerated in my world and those females who have engaged in such an atrocity are sent here. Men, obviously, are sent to another secure place in the Labyrinth but the women are sent here and subjugated to the magic of The Dollhouse. They are transformed into the very thing they used against others; an eye for an eye, really."

In the darkness, Cassie sees a shadow pass over Jareth's face as a figure approaches the bars. Hands grope at his fine clothes but he turns and issues them a glare and all Cassie hears is feminine squeals and the dashing of feet away from her cell.

"We do not execute our murderers. He let them fester here for all eternity, in the company of monsters like themselves."

"Are you, like, a real crazy person?" Cassie asks, her fear shifting. "That you actually believe everything you're saying? Or is this some big, colossal joke at my expense? Cause either way, I'm super pissed." She's not pissed anymore, not really. She's more terrified than anything. This man is menacing, yes, but she now hears the scurrying of skin against stone outside her cell again. There is something out there, some humanoid _things_, and they are laughing, laughing at _her_, and scratching to get in.

Jareth lets out a chuckle that does not sound humorous at all. "You should be glad that I am of a stable mental state, because if I was not, I wouldn't put you behind these bars."

"But I haven't done anything!' Cassie shrieks, struggling against the scarves. "Why do you put me behind bars if I haven't done anything wrong?"

"I don't put you behind bars to keep you in," Jareth says softly, leaning against the cell bars. Hands creep up behind him and try to tear at his clothes and grope at his skin. "I put you behind bars to keep _them _out."

Cassie watches in horror at the hands. She realizes that they are aren't _hands_ groping at him; they are skeleton fingers, scaly talons and insect-like pincers. The groping limbs are alien in their appearance but womanly in their sensuality and their need to touch. Cassie screams and a sphere appears in the man's hand. He throws it beyond the cage and Cassie hears it shatter. Her scream echoes into many, but now the screams sound far away.

"Seven _women_," Jareth says, emphasizing the word, for lack of a better descriptor. "Have seven keys. You can't see it, but you have seven locks on your cage. As a precaution, I've given them all their own cage now as well. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, especially our little heroine. All precious Sarah has to do it convince each of them to give up their key. She is just _so_ good at convincing others to join her little causes; I expect her to have no trouble with this little obstacle."

Cassie stops her hysterics. There is something _there_, in the man's voice, that stops her.

"Say it again," she says, not pleading but curious now. She's adept at these things, and she's positive in what she's heard.

The man's sharp eyebrows crease in the middle. He's not used to people telling him what to do.

"Say _what _again?"

"Say her name."

She can tell he's angry. He rushes her, and for a moment, she thinks he might hit her. But he stops, his face inches from hers, and she can see all the fantastical aspects of his face. She sees the mismatched eyes, the sharply arched brows, the shimmery sheen of his skin, and she sees that _it's all real_. These things pale in comparison to _that sound_, and she needs to hear it again to be sure.

"Please indulge me. If you're going to tie me up and leave me here, especially if I've done nothing wrong, I just want one thing from you. _Say her name_."

It's such an insignificant request. He's been asked to destroy worlds and bring back the dead. It's such a small demand...and he loves how her name feels on his tongue.

"_Sarah_."

Cassie closes her eyes and shudders. A moment passes before she speaks. "I've waited my entire life for someone to say my name like you say hers. You're so in love with her you can't even stand it, can you?"

The man's face is an icy mask but Cassie knows she's nailed it. Someone who knows boys as well as her knows when one is attainable or not. Just because she's slept around doesn't mean she doesn't believe in love. In fact, it's only cemented the fact in her mind. Boys who are in love, really and truly in love, have a vulnerable determination about them. They wouldn't even look at a girl like her if they are truly in love. Whether they know they're in love or not is irrelevant; there is something about them, something resolute and unmovable, awesome and awe-inspiring. This man is so completely, madly, blindingly in love with her roommate that he is defined by it. She's never seen anything like it before and, despite the circumstances she finds herself in, finds it heartbreakingly beautiful.

"You better hope she saves you, or I'll let you rot here forever," Jareth threatens, though he knows he doesn't have the power to do so. "These bars cannot hold them back forever." He's so livid, he's tempted to let her and all of the others out of their cages to fend for herself against the rest of the Dolls, but that would be cruel and unusual punishment for someone who is simply a pawn in his and Ash's game. No, he'll leave before his temper gets the best of him. But this human girl is smiling at him, smiling like she has a secret of her own. He frowns. She grins even wider.

"Not if she saves you first, Blondie," Cassie smirks, and begins to laugh. Her laugh echoes throughout The Dollhouse, and she hears the others chime in along with her. They're all laughing at him and his stupid, insipid love and after a moment Jareth simply cannot take it anymore. He vanishes, leaving only sparkles and light in his wake, but soon after they fade, leaving Cassandra Kane in the darkness.

She doesn't feel like laughing much after that.

Sarah leaves the riddle tree behind, abandoning the clear, bright sunshine of the Labyrinth for the cold, dark reality of her own world. When she turns back after going through the archway she only sees the skeleton of a tree. The sprites turn back to electric lights, the leaves are gone and she is alone, so very, very alone again.

Somewhere a clock is ticking. She can't hear it but she knows it is running her time down, minute by minute. She imagines each tik-tok in Jareth's voice, echoing "pity...pity...what a pity...," and it spurns her on. She didn't need Hoggle. If he was so hurt by her actions, well, her inactions really, she could go on without him. She didn't really want to do this without him but she could. She could do anything as long as she was fighting Jareth to do it.

Sarah sat on a rusted metal mushroom, part of some sort of children's ride, and pulled out the tarot cards. She considered not using them, as they had just worked out _ever_ so well in the Hoggle situation. But something told her that the portal opened up when she used the card and who was she to doubt something she had seen with her very own eyes?

She didn't speak her request out loud, but she thought it. She concentrated, hard, on who she should go after next. She shuffled the cards and, after a moment's deliberation, pulled one out. She flipped it over and the world swam before her eyes for a moment. Sarah clutched the edge of the mushroom, comforted by its immovability, and the moment passed. Shaking her head, she peered down at the card.

"The Seductress foretells that passion and romance await. Unbridled sensuality waves an irresistible spells. Her appeals draws in all that are open to her passion. A captivating beauty that stimulates foolish risks in those who seek her out. Beloved by all but loved by none."

Sarah had returned too many nights from the library to see a hair scrunchie around the doorknob of her dorm room to not know who this meant. She told herself all those nights that she slept on the common room couch would be worth it if she got Cassie back unharmed.

Right on cue, Sarah saw a light illuminate the darkness. It was further than she thought, further away than Hoggle had been, but if she ran, it wouldn't take long at all. She put the Cassie's card back in the deck and slipped it in her pocket. She buttoned her coat up against the cold and began to run.

Cassie shivered as another scream tore through The Dollhouse. The blond guy had only been gone for a few minutes, but already Cassie had let the fear get to her. She jumped at every noise, every hiss, every flash of light or skittering shadow.

_What was that?_ She heard it, a low, chuckling voice, accompanied by the sounds of mechanical clunking. It began to be a pattern; the low, warm, decidedly _masculine_ voice followed by a slow, metallic clanking of chains being dragged against cold, hard stone. It wasn't Blondie again, no. Blondie's voice was cold ice tinged with steel. The only time it warmed was when he was talking about Sarah. This male voice was honey that still held the promise of bee-stings. It was a proud voice, an entitled voice, a voice of power and slow-simmering rage. This voice was hot wax down cold skin and Cassie did not want it to come any closer.

But closer it came. She heard the voices get closer and closer and she knew that someone had let the Dolls out of their cages. She saw the shadow grow inside her own cage and knew he was standing right outside.

"To lock such a pretty bird inside a gilded cage is just _criminal_," the voice said. "Do come out."

The shadows moved, shifted, if on their own to better show off the man's face to Cassie, as if he moved the shadows himself. He is gorgeous, to be sure, but there is something feral in his appearance. His yellow eyes stand out in the dark, like a cat, reflecting the meager light in the prison.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather stay here, thanks," Cassie said, no longer struggling against her bonds. She wanted _them_ to stay out there and for her to stay _in here, _where she knew they could not touch her.

"It's _not_ all the same to me," the man said, his hands, like claws, curling around the bars of her cage. Midnight dark hair fell over his ochre colored eyes, having come loose from his neat ponytail. "I have all my favorite girls here, set free from their confining cells. They want you to come out and play."

Cassie pushes herself backward in her chair, trying to get some distance between her and this man. She pushed her chair until her back was against the wall of her cell, but it wasn't enough, especially since, with a snap of his fingers, the bars ascended into the ceiling.

His figure was a column of absolute black against the darkness surrounding and Cassie could see the shadows moving again. They swarmed around him, enveloping him, pulsing like they had a life all their own. But now it wasn't just shadows. She saw bodies, writhing and undulating in an inhuman way. She was hyperventilating but she managed to choke out a few words.

"Listen, Ponytail. Let's just put my pretty bars back and talk about this. Blondie and I had a nice thing going. You and I can work something out. You'll find that I can be _quite_ persuasive. And by persuasive, I mean that I have big knockers and I'll let you touch them."

Cassie felt dirty and unclean at her insinuation but she was just so, so frightened. The Dolls were at his back, cackling and moaning. The dark man smiled and laughed and it hurt; feeling his voice slide up and down her spine.

"Such a plain girl, made ugly by such filthy words," Ash purred, his harem moving ever closer to where Cassie cowered in the darkness. She could start to make our their hideous shapes. She caught a glimpse of a pair of dripping fangs, a naked bony spine, the gentle curve of a woman's thigh melded over a metal frame. "No wonder nobody loves you. Men use you and throw you away like refuse and you deserve it."

Cassie was sobbing now, hyperventilating, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. She could smell them now, they were so close. They smelled of cotton candy, motor oil, sex, and blood.

"But that will all change," the dark man cooed. With a flick of his hand, Cassie felt the bonds loosen and yet she couldn't find the strength to move. "My ladies would love to engage in an act of feminine bonding with you...I think your kind calls it a 'makeover.' I am just so excited to see how they transform you. I mean, look at you. An ugly caterpillar now, just _aching_ to be that beautiful butterfly."

Cassie felt the Dolls' hands on her now, wandering and invasive. She felt a sharp pain and gasped as blood spurted from a gash above her sternum. Cold, impossibly strong hands clasped her wrists and pulled them roughly over her head. Another pair of hands held her feet. With the strength Cassie had left, she turned to her nearest captor and spit in her face.

"Oh no," Ash tsked-tsked. He stuck out his bottom lip like a stubborn child. "That was just _so_ crude. I daresay you've made them mad. I'd love to stay and watch your metamorphosis but, the night is young, and I have much to do. Rain-check on that _persuasive argument_ you propositioned earlier, though. Ta-ta for now."

He turned and the Dolls swarmed her. The girl's screams were so sweet, like birdsong to the High King's ears. He savored the sound until an ugly though crossed his mind. Technically, The Dollhouse was in Jareth's territory, the Labyrinth. He couldn't have his younger brother busting in and ruining all the fun, as his powers would be in full force when he was within the borders of his own kingdom.

Ash concentrated and, with supreme effort, pushed his hands outward from his chest. A dark magic pushed from within him and sealed the Dollhouse. It would keep his brother out of the prison, even though it was in his brother's realm; one of the perks of being High King. He couldn't have Jareth doing something stupid like rushing in to save his precious human. Sure, Sarah might die in here and Ash would win, but there was just _so_ much time left in this night, and he wanted to savor the victory slowly. There was a certain perverse pleasure prolonging Jareth's misery.

Ash was thinking these pleasant thoughts when he suddenly was stuck down at the force he expelled from the magic. He pitched forward, skinning his knees on the rough hewn stone floor, heaving and holding his chest. He looked up, knowing he would lose some face if any of the women caught his misstep.

The Dolls didn't even notice; they were too enthralled with their new, pretty plaything. And the girl...well, the girl had too much blood in her eyes to see much at all.

Jareth felt the disturbance in his realm as he was finishing up the finishing touches on Toby's enclosure in the center of the corn maze.

"How do you get your hair so big?' Toby asked, as polite as could be. "Can we do my hair like that? Do you still sing? Could you sing me a song? I'll start." The boy starting singing and off-key rendition of some popular human tune as he walked in between the corn rows, weaving in and out of the stalks. The large, pudgy goblin Kweeble followed him, giggling and singing quite as much as the child himself.

"And mother asks me why I don't want children," Jareth said drolly, shaking his head. He watched as the simple-minded goblin chased the boy and the two went tumbling into the cornfield, having as good as a time as if this were a play date instead of a kidnapping. The Goblin King rolled his eyes, but he did feel a certain attachment to the child. He was funny and reminded him of Sarah in a way. He watched as Kweeble tackled Toby at the knees and the two went flying into the dust. As he was chuckling to himself, Jareth felt something flickering in the back of his mind again and he stopped his enchantments to concentrate.

Jareth sighed, trying to ignore the boy and concentrate on _what_ exactly he was feeling. There was a definite shifting, a door being shut against him. It could be something back in the Labyrinth, something wholly separate from tonight's game, but he knew better than that. He felt his brother's poisonous influence spreading against Jareth's world; an inky-black smoke unfurling and choking Jareth's magic. In that moment he knew Sarah was in danger.

"Goblin!"

Kweeble immediately stood up from wrestling with Toby and saluted his master, his allegiance only slightly marred from the fact his aviator cap was cocked on his head, covering his entire face. Jareth reached down and straightened it so he could look his subject in the face.

"You keep an eye on the boy and make sure that when Sarah comes, neither of them are harmed. She needs to lose but I don't want come back and find them any less than what they are now. And if you see any sign of the High King, _any sign_, you call to me and I will come. Do you understand?"

Kweeble nodded vigorously. Unlike some of his kin, he loved the king and would do anything for him. He was only sometimes mean. He mostly looked after the goblins, let them have mead parties and chicken races. He felt a great honor in this task, and his chest swelled with pride that his master would trust him.

"Good," Jareth said. With a sweep of his hand he produced a beautiful crystal and spoke to it. After he was finished, the crystal floated above his hand like a bubble and, with a snap of his King's fingers, the crystal disappeared.

"I must fly," Jareth told Kweeble. "Remember your duty. I couldn't bear to lose..." Kweeble waited for his master to finish his thought but there was no more. The goblin watched as his mighty king transfigured into a striking bird of prey and take to the night like the whole world counted on his flight.

Snix hid inside a crumbling planter set outside the door of the dollhouse. She put a clump of dirt with a dead flower poking out of it on her head to hide herself from the Dark Man. She put on a brave front at first, and she _was _brave, for the most part. She had the record distance for being shot out of a cannon and could drink the most shots of grain alcohol down at the Pig's Poke, the tavern near her hovel in the Goblin City. Usually the shots of alcohol happened beforebeing shot out of a cannon, but that was besides the point. But the king's brother, The Ash Lord, was evil, that much Snix knew, and she hid because she was afraid of him.

So when she saw her master's calling card, an airy crystal undulating in the wind toward her, she poked her head to grab it.

"_You will prevent Sarah from going into the Dollhouse at all costs_," she heard the Goblin King's voice issuing from the crystal. "_Stall her until I can get there. Her life, and yours, depend upon it. Do not fail me_."

Snix gulped. The king threatened them with death on most days. "I'll kill you if you don't muck out the horse stalls." "I'll kill you if you don't shine my throne." "I'll kill you if you shrink my pants in the laundry." But he never meant it, not really. This, Snix knew, _this_ time she knew he would do it. From her pot, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. She caught a glimpse of long, dark hair, a willowy figure, and pale skin. The Lady approached the door of the Dollhouse, and Snix scrambled out of her planter to confront her.

"Oy, hey you! Yeah you, ugly!" Sarah looked down and saw a very dirty goblin looking up at her, with a perturbed look on her green, pinched face, and her arms akimbo out at her sides.

"Who you calling ugly?" Sarah asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"I don't see anyone else here," Snix said as nastily as she could, looking around frantically to see if her master had come yet. "So yeah, I'm talking to you. You can't go in there, porky." She gestured to the Dollhouse, where Sarah began to heard strange, inhuman noises.

"I don't have much a choice, now do I?" Sarah replied spitefully to the decidedly female goblin. She couldn't recall seeing a female goblin before now but she knew this was definitely was. There was her manner of dress, a grubby shift of some kind, and her softer features. But what gave it away the most that the goblin was a girl was that she was a total bitch. And Sarah had dealt with enough bitches in her life to let one get in her way now.

"So, I'll give _you_ a choice," Sarah told the goblin, narrowing her eyes at her. "You get out of my way, or I _make_ you get out of my way."

The girl goblin laughed. "Yeah, I'd like to see you try."

Sarah kicked her foot out at the goblin, not to hit her actually but to try and scare her away so she could get on with getting Cassie out of here. What she didn't expect was the little gobliness to latch on to her leg.

"Hey!" Sarah yelped, trying to shake off the goblin. She stomped around but the dirty little urchin held on with surprising force, infuriating Sarah by laughing as she tried to dislodge her. "This isn't funny!"

"See, that just shows how stupid you are," Snix laughed. "Because it _is_ funny. _Really_ funny. You should see your face."

Sarah felt a soft breeze pass by her, ruffling her hair as she caught something white out of the corner of her eye. She ignored it and continued to try to shake off the annoying creature.

"This is a dirty and underhanded distraction, King," Sarah yelled into the air, hoping that he would appear just so she could yell at him. "This is _so_ beneath you."

"Can I tell you what I'd rather have beneath me?" Sarah heard him whisper in her ear. She let out an exasperated sigh and turned to see Jareth standing behind her. Sarah was too annoyed to be embarrassed at the bold insinuation.

"Really, Jareth? You're sending ankle biters out to deter me? That's just sad."

"I do what I can," Jareth shrugged apathetically, the shoulders of his elaborate armored jacket shifting up and down. "Goblin, let the girl go."

"Yes, boss," Snix replied docilely enough and released Sarah's jean-clad legs.

"So are you going to try and sidetrack me at every turn?" Sarah asked, watching the gobliness scramble back into the planter she had come from.

"I wouldn't be much of a antagonist if I didn't," said airily enough, but his face betrayed an intensity Sarah couldn't quite place. She watched as he pressed his gloved hand against the door of the ramshackle mansion and quickly pulled it back like it had been burned.

"Trapped by your own trap, King?" Sarah asked lightly, though the look on Jareth's face made her more nervous than she ought to be.

"You should be more frightened than you are," Jareth said, rounding on Sarah. She kept herself facing him at all times, so she watched as he circled her, like a mangy wolf circling a tiny rabbit. "This place is not safe."

"I didn't expect it to be," Sarah answered, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "You've never made it easy for me."

"Such lies," Jareth purred. "You will never know everything I have done for you. You would do well to listen and heed my advice."

"Oh, and what advice would that be?"

"Surrender to me, Sarah," Jareth meant for it to come out as a righteous command, but it sounded more like a desperate plea. "This could end right now. I cannot protect you unless you give yourself to me."

"I don't need your protection," Sarah huffed, her eyes still following his journey around her. "Why would I need protection from the man who put me in danger in the first place? Just call this all off if I need protection so badly."

"You know I cannot," Jareth said gravely. He moved closer to her and Sarah felt her back slide against the door of the mansion. It did not burn her like it had Jareth. It felt solid and strong. Why would the Goblin King make a obstacle for her that he himself could not penetrate? "I was wished here by another; my quarrel is not with you. Surrender is the only obvious choice. I would give you everything...just say yes."

"I've never been one to take what is given to me," Sarah retorted, trying to back away but only finding solid wood at her back. "I fight for what's mine."Jareth closed in, putting both hands beside her head beside the door on the shingles of the wall. That didn't seem to bother him and he appeared most content trapping her there, between his arms.

"Oh, precious," Jareth whispered. "Just when I think we couldn't be more different, you surprise me. That's just like something I would say. We are similar in ways I never would have imagined. I find that very interesting."

"Just let me do this," Sarah said, shutting her eyes. She wouldn't look at him, _couldn't_ look at him, or her resolve might crumble down like this ramshackle manor. "I need to do this. If we are so similar you would understand."

"I _do_ understand," Jareth said quietly. "And if you understood me you would know why I am trying to stop you. This place has been corrupted. It was never a safe place but I tried to make it so you would be relatively unharmed after entering. Now, his influence blocks me from entering, making me unable chain up what lies inside. I cannot shield you from what lurks beyond."

"Him?" Sarah asked, still not looking at him. It was enough that he was so close, but she could smell him; the leather he wore, his magic, his masculinity, and she wanted to reach out and touch him. Soon he would be so close she wouldn't have to reach out at all to feel him against her.

"You know who," Jareth answered. "There is a game between you and me, Sarah, that I _so _enjoy playing. But here is a competition against him, the High King, that I cannot release myself from. He plots against me, but he is not your friend."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Sarah repeated, recalling Ash's words to her at the riddle tree.

"No," Jareth said emphatically. "He is no one's friend, especially yours. He wants you to win but in the end, but not for the reasons you think. Don't fall for his tricks. You will see if you go into the Dollhouse here that he's a monster. I house these demons in this prison in my realm, but I keep them contained. If you go in there after he's been inside, I cannot guarantee your friend is safe. I can't defend you against their evil."

"I don't believe a word you say," Sarah retorted. "The least you could do is own up to what you've done, but I wouldn't expect the truth from you. Don't you worry about me, I've got some tricks up my sleeve. I've never needed anyone to take care of me, especially you, Jareth."

"I would have, if you would have let me," Jareth whispered and Sarah knew he would kiss her if she let him. She didn't know why...he hated her, toyed with her friends and her emotions. But there was such a fine love between love and hate. Sarah wasn't so young and innocent anymore that she didn't recognize that...and when to exploit it.

"Oh, Jareth," Sarah said, her lips sensually mouthing his name. Then, she did something she never would have thought of before. It felt foreign at first, but suddenly so right. She lifted her hand and, very lightly, put her finger's to the Goblin King's lips. They parted slightly, and she could feel his breath against her fingers, hot and moist. "You _are_ right. We are alike. Like, now, for instance, what would you do if you were in my situation?"

Jareth was beyond thought at this point. He felt the pads of her fingers against his lips, and he wished she would let the adventurous digits enter so he could savor her taste. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, and in the moment of hesitation of thinking, he knew he had made a mistake.

In his moment of distraction, she had reached behind herself to the doorknob and unlatched it. While he was fighting for words, transfixed by her boldness, she let her weight open the door and she traversed the threshold that he could not cross. She now stood where he could not go, bound by the restrictions his brother had placed on the building's boundaries. Sarah stood, now a few feet away, with a sexy smirk on her face.

"Was I wrong, King? Wouldn't you have done the same thing, taken advantage of my distraction, and furthered your own agenda?"

Jareth leaned in as close as he could. His arms framed the doorway, his golden head bowed forward, glaring at Sarah between half-closed lids.

"Sarah, don't. You have no idea what horrors await you. I only want to beat you. I don't want you broken."

Sarah glared right back at him, her arms crossed against her chest. " You say that, but you know you'll do anything to win. And so will I. Even if it means breaking you."

Jareth reached out and Sarah saw the fine, buttery leather of his gloves begin to singe and smoke his hand trespassed over the door's threshold. She watched as his hand curled from a beckoning plea to a fighting fist.

"You wouldn't dare defy me, Sarah. Not when I'm doing this for your own good. You wouldn't dare."

That only infuriated Sarah more.

"Oh, I dare."

Sarah slammed the door in the Goblin's King's face. She initially felt deeply satisfied in denying Jareth. Sarah relished the moment until she realized she wasn't alone.

* * *

In love and War Chapter five Soundtrack

1. Nox Arcana, "Living Dolls". Listen to when: Jareth locks up cassie and explains the Dollhouse.

Lyrics: Instrumental

2. Deftones, "Change (In The House of Flies)". Listen to when: Ash visits Cassie in the Dollhouse.

Lyrics: _I've watched you change  
I took you home  
Set you on the glass  
I pulled off your wings  
Then I laughed  
I watched a change  
In you_

3. Placebo, "Running Up That Hill". listen to when: Sarah and Jareth meet outside the Dollhouse.

Lyrics: _It doesn't hurt me.  
You wanna feel how it feels?  
You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me?  
You wanna hear about the deal I'm making?  
You be running up that hill  
You and me be running up that hill_

And if I only could,  
Make a deal with God,  
And get him to swap our places,  
Be running up that road,  
Be running up that hill,  
Be running up that building.  
If I only could, oh...

You don't wanna hurt me,  
But see how deep the bullet lies.  
Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder.  
There's a thunder in our hearts, baby.  
So much hate for the ones we love?  
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?


End file.
